After looking at a number of different games I wanted to move onto looking at a number of different films that could inspire the creation of my level. I didn't want to look at films specifically set in Egypt as there are not too many but I wanted to keep it broad and look at more action films as the game will be action based and a platformer so looking at these films may inspire certain things that happen in the level.
The Mummy Films
I firstly wanted to look at The Mummy films as these are the genre that I wanted to explore and they are set in Egypt, which is a bonus. The whole premise of the films are very exiting and action packed and show the characters getting lost in the vast tombs of Egyptian pyramids. What is nice about these films when looking to turn them into a game level is that, especially for the first film, they are all compacted into mainly one location which is in this tomb in the desert. The setting that it creates is very isolated, even if there are a lot of people around, and then when the characters are on their own the atmosphere becomes very tense and your not sure whats going to happen next.
The overall look for the tombs is also brilliantly created, making the level very sandy and the fact that they is sand over some of the floor shows how long it has been down under the ground for, and some of the rooms have even more sand in, this is a nice feature that could be added into my own level. The tomb also varies in shape and size throughout, there is the feature of small narrow corridors followed by the film opening up into these beautiful grand rooms with hieroglyphics plastering the walls, creating a brilliant atmosphere that shows the amount of work that went into painting it all and decorating it, which is something that will definitely be considered when creating my own work.
Lastly I wanted to look at the colour schemes and as this level is based mainly in the tombs it is something that is very inspirational for me to consider. The colour scheme does vary greatly throughout, from the bright gold atmopshere of the opening scene in Ancient Egypt to when the characters go down into the treasure filled rooms in the tomb and the walls shine bright with the reflection of all the gold scattered across the floors. This is then contrasted with darker rooms in the tombs that are void from light and in turn produce a very dull grey which is cast onto the walls, making them look less expensive and it makes you eye draw to the characters instead, something that could be looked at for my game level.
Tomb Raider
The next films that I wanted to look at where the Tomb Raider films, although not the best examples of action films, they did produce the genre that I am looking to achieve in our game. We want to create something that is action-packed with traps and obstacles for the character to avoid and Tomb Raider is all about that. Although the games give a more accurate representations of what I want to achieve the films still show this slightly.
Lara is forced into these weird situations in the search for ancient relics, and this is something that we want to possibly add into our levels, with the character having to find something in order to advance to the next level. The way that the films are generally set out, are very similar to Indiana Jones in which Lara will be on the hunt for a certain artifact when something bad happens, this usually results in her going on a long winded adventure to track down the whereabouts of someone that's involved, kill them and find where they have put the relic. Get the relic, go home. Its a simple story line that does work, and I believe that are game should have something similar.
Although the film doesn't do dark quite like the games do, it still produce some very nice shots, making the character appear as if they are in tight corridors or having to hid around buildings that area ancient whilst in the middle of gunfire, allowing her to find secret passageways. All of the scenes have been put together knowing that there is going to be something secret hidden around any corner, and even if its sudden gunfire, or sudden monsters or robots attacking, nothing deals with it better than Lara.
Indiana Jones
Lastly I wanted to look at Indiana Jones as for me this was the moment when all action films wanted to be exactly like this one, and thats because it worked so well. The entire plot to most of the films is about hunting for ancient treasures in the world and much like the plot of most films to come under this genre, the plot does mainly stay the same following the same pattern covered for Tomb Raider, which was obviously inspired by the man himself.
The overall impact that Indiana Jones had on the audience made exploring fun and exciting and gave it almost a genre of itself, inspiring films and most games in the future to follow in it's footsteps. The general atmosphere produced by the film wavers in action and throughout keeps a steady pace for the audience to follow but then they are hit suddenly by a tense scene that will introduce a panicked and frantic scene to follow straight away putting you on the edge of your seat, and if possible this is something that I want to bring to my own environment.
Overall Indiana Jones is a great film for inspiration, looking at how traps can be set off and how judgement is made throughout in order to not only do the right thing but end up getting the prize in the end. It feels like it could be a game, which the idea has been adapted into, many times, but it feels like it could inspire a level that I'm making to be filled with traps, but some that are going to be obvious and some that you don't even know are there at all, adding in that small element of surprise and making the level action-packed and shocking.
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