Progress Report

Due to the progress of our class, the other students and I have all had a discussion concerning whether Wednesday 8th December is the best choice of date to host our show at the college. Instead of this time, we all agreed that the show be on the later date of Tuesday 14th so that we have enough time to get our products completed.

Show Learning Outcome 4 Task 2

For task 2 of learning outcome 4, I have to help set up the show and ensure it runs smoothly, manage the project effectively and carry out my assigned role with commitment and a high level of efficiency. The other students and I have started organizing the dates that we will use to set up the show. Namely the Monday, Tuesday and the morning and early afternoon on Wednesday before the show starts will be used as the days we will be setting up our installations. Although because of the various constraints that people have seemingly had for this unit, we are managing to hold together to ensure that everything is running as smoothly as it possibly could be.

Show Learning Outcome 4 Task 1

For part of our fourth learning outcome of show, the other students and I had to investigate possible locations and venues for the show. Before we came to this outcome however, we had already discussed this matter and of all the options we discussed, we decided that the college itself would be the most ideal choice for the location which we would use to show our products. This is because unlike most other venues, the college will be free to exhibit our work, we are familiar with the space around us, and we can also use the college resources to help us put on more of a successful show than what most of the other locations can offer us.

Progress Report

Today, I have managed to finish the press release which was my main contribution to the publicising of the show. I have drafted out about 3 copies and used my lecturer's guidance to produce a press release of a good quality. My first couple of drafts were either too long or expansive to be considered a good press release. I was told to try and keep it short and to the point. I will now use the time I have left on this specific outcome to send this to the Cornishman newspaper so that people of the local area have the opportunity to read about the show.

Progress Report

One of the worries I had about the show was how I could possibly get my product there. My game was on my home PC and my only hope was to copy it to a PC at college as the MAC computers don't run PC files. However, over the last weekend, I managed to get the MAC edition of game maker, and so I now have it running on my laptop. I have spent the last four days since I downloaded this software, to produce the game on the MAC; and fortunately, it's going at quite a swift process. I estimate that I will finish my game within the next week.

Show Learning Outcome 3 Task 4

For task 4 of learning outcome 3, we have to describe the target audience of our product and justify the age range through the marketing materials we have produced. Because I have made a game where a student must escape college, I would imagine my product will be best suited for 16 - 19 year old's. However, I have also broadened the age rage of my product, in order to get a wider source of feedback, by exhibiting my game through an old arcade cabinet. As I brought this element from a couple of generations ago, I hope that my target audience will grow so that more people will enjoy my product. I believe I have fully justified my target audience through my promotional materials, which in my case is the poster and the logo, and possibly even the arcade cabinet itself. My main trademark for my product was the pixelated picture of the character for my game. I made it so that it was pixelated because 8-bit animation was how all the classic arcade games looked. This element of my promotional materials would clearly appeal to the older generation of my target audience. The other promotional material of mine, the logo, would definitely appeal to the younger generation of my target audience. I entitled my game, 'I'm A Student Get Me Out Of Here'! I thought this was a very good idea for a name because the title hints at what the game is about, and also references the TV show 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here'! which is so popular among my age group.

Show Learning Outcome 3 Task 3

Task 3 of the third learning outcome is to carry out the publicity campaign that we all planned out. The performing arts took ownership for this part of the learning outcome and decided to tie loads of balloons to a tree to attract attention. They also attached the group poster the tree.

Show Learning Outcome 3 Task 2

For task 2 of learning outcome 3, we have to plan and carry out a publicity stunt that we will do to advertise our show. Although in a marketing meeting, that we have taken minutes for, the performing arts students volunteered to take ownership of the publicity campaign, the other media students and I do have active roles in that we are helping them to plan out what they can do. It is also worth mentioning that in this meeting, not only did we decide what the performing arts will be doing for this learning outcome, but also what each of us will be doing individually. I decided to do the press release, for which I am currently in the process of producing a second draft.

Progress Report

Outside of college hours, I have used some of my time to research innovative ways in which I could present my product. I went to the arcade on the promenade to see if the had any arcade machine cabinets that I could use. Fortunately they did have some they were prepared to give to me and so I am now guaranteed an arcade cabinet for my game for show. Although it was not my ideal cabinet, it is still fit for purpose and I was willing to take any opportunity I could get. The man I spoke to also said he would give me the cabinet and deliver it to where ever I need it to be, all free of charge; and therefore this made it a chance I could not let got to waste.

Progress Report

Over the weekend, I managed to put together the first draft of my game. The next step I plan on taking is taking out any 'bugs' that the game may have and adding the finishing touches such as the sound/music etc. After this, I hope to gain feedback from a number of people so that I can correct any bits of the game that people think could do with an improvement.

Show Learning Outcome 3 Task 1 Ideas

For task 1 of learning outcome 3, I have produced a couple of ideas of what I could put on my flyer. Our lecturer recommends us making a flyer that relates to the project that we are doing; for example, for me as I am doing a game, I could make a flyer in the shape of an iconic game such as pacman or such like. This is the idea I have already produced and there are also some other features I have generated for this idea too. I have also produced the idea of using the jigsaw puzzle pieces (the logo for show) as the individual pixels that could be seen in games like pacman. On each puzzle piece would be a picture, or a screen shot, of the work that I have produced. It would also include the title of my game 'I'm A Student Get Me Out Of Here' and information about the game.

Show Learning Outcome 3 Task 1

Today, the rest of the group and I discussed the different innovative and imaginative ways in which we could promote and advertise the show. After talking of ideas such as viral campaigns, publicity stunts and contacting local radio stations to help advertise our show, we then started to create pre-production materials for each of our flyers. On the flyers would be examples of the work we are producing for the show and the logo that the class have created.
So far, I have also created a poster and the logo for my game. I will display these in my installation at the show. We were advised to keep our posters simple because the professional looking documents are never tacky. On my individual poster, I have included a picture of the main character of my game, the Collective logo that, as a class, we all decided upon what it should look like, and also a blurb that describes what my game is about. I designed my game logo in Photoshop. It is a very useful application which allowed me to fulfill my idea of what my game logo would look like. I tried to make it look as retro as I possibly could so that it would fit the time from which I intended my game to look like it was made.
I have also drafted a press release that I intended to send to the Cornishman newspaper. However, because I didn't send it in time, I am in the process of planning a whole new draft for a press release which documents how the show went, which I can send to the newspaper after the show has finished.

Progress Report

Today, I have used most of the lesson to produce a plan, shot list and a storyboard. Although I have started producing my game, I haven't yet written down my plan of action as a hard copy. However, I have quickly corrected the error in my ways by producing the pre-production materials for this project.

Progress Report

Most recently I have been planning the direction I will take this November in relation to my product. The rest of the students and I now have 2 weeks left to complete our work and I have made a plan which describes what it is I have to do on each day leading up to the deadline. I have decided that once I have made all of the 'rooms', or levels, in the game, and also debugged it, that I will try to bring in a copy to class so that I can gain feedback from the other students. This will give me a bit of time to alter the game according to the feedback, and therefore have a good quality finished product.

Progress Report

Most recently for this unit, the other students and I discussed with our tutor the budget of our production. We all suggested what resources we need for the show, and how much each will roughly come to. We also talked of the costs for services such as the catering. This is so we can estimate how much money we will spend for our showcase and therefore, how much we will need to make to gain a profit. The reason for this is so the rest of the students and I can learn how to put on a successful show. We talked of different ways in which we could make a profit. One of the discussions that came up was how we would sell tickets for the show; or rather, if we should sell tickets at all. This is because some people suggested that instead of selling tickets, we could let people donate money. This is so that on the occasion, we may find some people have been generous enough to donate more money than what we would have believed the tickets to be worth. Of course, this experiment could also backfire if people didn't donate as much as what we had hoped. However, whatever the amount of money we receive is, it will give an accurate value for our show, and therefore tell us whether the show could have done with an improvement or not.