PPP1 Presentation: Disseminate

Here is my final presentation for the 3rd part of our personal and professional practice which was all about environments and how I am interested in them the most, whether they are film or game.

PPP1 Research: Strek Trek Into Darkness

Lens Flare.

True to J.J Abrams this is filled of lens flare and nothing else... but I digress, this film is brilliant and one of the best that I've seen this year. It's gripping, exciting and contains on of the best baddies every in the form of the beautiful Benedict Cumberbatch.

The special effects of this film are out of this world - literally and competes with the other Star Trek film, beating it by a land slide. There are some epic fight scenes and also parts that make you cry and even the famous 'KAHHHHNNNNN!' roar near the end; which any Trekie will instantly recognise.

The general storyline for this film is brilliant and is so much more exciting and easier to follow than the first one. We follow the team again aboard the Enterprise this time as Cumberbatch's character attempts to destroy the chief members of the Star Fleet at one of there meetings only to be captured, then freed and then attempted to be killed again after he betrays them; but this leads to one of the best fight scenes ever between Spock and Kahn as they run around what appears to be a VERY modern day London.

With the return of old favourites including Kirk, Spock, older Spock, Chekov, Sulu and Scottie makes this film worth seeing. The combination of humour, intergalactic fight scenes and a father/daughter relationship that will never be envied, proves that J.J Abrams is truly an incredible director as this film is definitely one of a kind and includes the most amount of lens flare in British History. Ever.

PPP1 Research: Star Trek

One film that I thought I would never actually get round to watching was J.J. Abrams adaptation of Star Trek (2009). I did not think it was my type of film until I actually sat down and watched it properly and I loved it and thoroughly enjoyed watching it, despite the ridiculous amount of lens flare.

The general storyline for me at first was very complicated and confusing and I wasn't sure whether it was down to the fact that I hadn't seen any of the other films - but I was assured I would get it in the end: Lies. The story begins by showing our villain and how his planet had been destroyed so he uses a black whole to travel back in time; but doesn't use this to warn his people, no. He waits 25 years just to get revenge on a certain Vulcan.  During this time we learn about a young Spock and Kirk and about there past and how the members of the original enterprise where acquired.

It is a thrilling story that introduces characters to the story and also gives us an insight to Captain 'I can dodge death' Kirk younger self who believes that he will dodge death at every corner. Along with this, and the fact he managed to get on the enterprise without any paper work or medical check and the wonderful surprise visit from old Spock; this film definitely is up there with my favourites.

The sounds used have all stayed true to the original movies and the music is wonderful to hear as so much has obviously been changed about the film anyway. Going to see this at the cinema is something that I wish I had done as it looks incredible just on a regular screen. Along with the epic-ness of the music there is also the CGI that can be ignored as it challenges the likes of the big CGI based film Avatar.

Then there is something that can definitely not be ignored... Lens flare. I have never seen a film include this amount of lens flare that you can point it out every 3 seconds; but for me it does work surprisingly. As they are constantly in space with machinery that would have produced a large amount of specular roll off; so it actually does work very effectively. But does leave me with this question: How can they see where there are going?

PPP1 Research: Lego Harry Potter

Like the other game in the franchise, Lego Harry Potter by Travellers Tales, this one is fantastically childish to play and wonderful if you are a fan of the books and films. This game adaptation take everything that is good about Harry Potter and makes it better in every way. It takes the humorous aspects of the films and exploits them without the characters ever having to speak which is something that works so well because as seen in Lego Lord of the Rings game the voice acting does not work.

This game is so fun and creative and is any Harry Potter fans must have due t how well the game actually runs and how cartoony and wonderfully brilliant the graphics and characters are. Like with other Lego games there are so many characters that can be played as; each having different outfits to choose from as well. Or there is the create your own character in which you can use bits and pieces from all of the other characters and make your own Snape with McGonagol's hair and Dumbledore's beard which is amazing to see.

Like most things in the Lego world throughout the different levels Lego studs can be collected and then used to buy characters, spells and also the last few Gold Bricks you need to get that all important 100% completion. This is another thing that always attracts me most to the Lego games is that they can be completed 100% and you can see where your at to that goal at any time, something I like to have in a game so that I cans see how far I am to completing it.

One of the best features about this game is the fact that once you have completed each level you are then able to go back to each level and gather any remaining items in the freeplay mode where you can play as your favourite character - providing you have unlocked them. Then once each of the levels are completed 100% you have the chance then to explore Hogwarts itself; finding secret rooms and unlockables that ensure that you get to that magic 100% completion. Otherwise whats the point in playing it?

Combining these details together creates a really fun game that is always so exciting to play and uses the original soundtrack throughout the game as well meaning that it is always very happy and colourful even in the darkest places of the game.

PPP1 Research: Fable III

One of the most recent game that I have purchased and fallen in love with is Fable III. Mainly attracted to this game because of the little collie dog that follows you around, but I started playing this game a while ago have have been become attached to it and can't wait to start playing it again as it is a great game.

To begin with you decide whether you want to be the Prince or Princess of your kingdom and the story begins with the story about your relative who is the King and is misusing his power and causing misery around the Kingdom. The job of your character is to travel around the Kingdom to gain outsiders trust to be able to get an army of people together to over throne the King and take your rightful place on the throne instead.

Besides completing this amazing adventure game to become head of the land again along the way there is the opportunity to complete side missions and help out civilians; then even get married and have children and purchase property which is the unique and most interesting part to this game.

Along with these, the quests that you take part in and complete are jam packed with adventure and epic fights. There are opportunities to upgrade and sell weapons to gain more money to be able to purchase more properties and gain even better weapons.

This is a fantastic, must play game for either console or PC as it has been brilliantly put together combining action, adventure and RPG as there are choice that have to be made throughout the levels that do influence how people then interact with you later on. The graphics in the game are decent enough but a remodel of the game could develop it better and improve the game further as it will be beautiful to explore if it looked say as beautiful as the new Tomb Raider game.

PPP1 Research: Wreck it Ralph

Ralph is wrecking it is exactly the opposite to what I thought when I saw this film. It is fantastic and looks brilliant! Where this film differs to other 3D animations is that it also has a 2D aspect to it. Due to the fact they are inside a video game game console when children play the game they see it as a 2D platformer game. But, as we then travel into the game machine it becomes 3D again which is a wonderful part of the film.

The storyline is also very inventive as well and involves following Ralphs journey to try and get a hero medal in different game engines as he is sick of being the villain in his game and he even goes to villain meetings with a few old favourite game characters, one including the ghost from Pac Man. As Ralph goes on his journey he meet Vanellope. A girl who has a secret life but has been banished from racing with all the other characters because she has a glitch. The story follows Ralph as he tries to help her get back into the race but not without encountering far to many problems along the way and one that may bring a tear to some peoples eyes.

The graphics for the entire film are fantasic and are brilliant to watch. I went to see this in 2D and the graphics still appeared to pop out of the screen they where that good. Along with great graphics there is also wonderful music and crazy characters design and it is clear in some places they have taken influence from actual video games.

One area of this film that really interests me is the set design and especially that of the Candy World. They have been creativly deisgned so that the cars they drive and even the environment has been made of something sweet, which is amazing to see as everything is so bright and colourful and inviting which makes you want it to be real. Another really nice part to the set design is the mentos and coke volcano which is really funny especially when it explodes.

The music for this film is also so exciting and works so well with the cartoony nature of the film and it also included just the right amount of humour and saddness to make this a classic Disney film with a bit of 2D/3D twist in the middle.

PPP1 Research: Super Mario Sunshine

 Briefly before I have discussed how fantasic and brilliant this game actually is but I wanted to go over it in more detail as it completely deserves it. This game is something you can play over and over again as you never run out of things to do and explore as the entire environment is massive.

The story for the game is superb and I love hearing it as it is a classic Mario vs Bowser which will always be the best kind. It takes place on quiet Isle Delfino which is absolutely beautiful to explore and has wonderful environment design off the main island there are also 7 other world that can be explored which are also beautiful and looking amazing. The general story follows Mario as he attempts to save Princess Peach once again from the clutches of evil, yes there using that storyline again. While at the same time Mario is being framed for graffiti on the Island, but its actually the work of Shadow Mario, who identity will be revealed later (anditsclearlynotobviouslyBowserorBowserJrbehindthisone.)

From the point onwards must not only save Peach but also countless other things as well; but as usual he is not alone. Meet F.L.U.D.D, a Flash Liquidasing Ultra Dousing Device. He is a backpack meets hover/water jet as Mario needs to clean up graffiti... convenient much.

The music throughout this game is just perfect for the gameplay as it is such a happy and interesting game with such a wonderful storyline. All of the characters have been well designed and look brilliant; working well  with each other as they are all very cartoony and look like they belong in a Nintendo game. This is definitely a game that I will always own and the because the graphics are cartoon based they will not tire or become old as they look great as they are.

PPP1 Research: Mario Kart Wii

Another one of my favourite games for the Nintendo Wii, is Mario Kart. As an owner of the original Mario Kart: Double Dash for GameCube, I was very excited to get this game as it offered both old and new race tracks and also new characters from the newer generation of Mario. In the older Double Dash game the graphics are very similar to that of the newer one which is actually quite a surprise as the newer one was produced a few years later and should have a lot of improvements.

As a fan of the older game it was wonderful to get stuck into playing this newer one as if offered not only older tracks from the Double Dash game but also new ones that came with Mario Kart Wii that were amazing to drive through.The general gameplay going round the different tracks is amazing and the cars are all easy to drive and it is very clear where you have to go as all of the levels are wonderfully bright and colourful and keep with the original style of Nintendo games.

The other good things about this game for one is the music. It is amazing and is perfect for the game. The music combines a mixture of older Nintendo tunes mixed with newer ones created for this game which all work well with the older ones and the noise of the cars going around the track. The other thing I love about this game is the mini character creation menu in which you are able to pick your character and then also customised your car, a feature not used in many racing games.

PPP1 Research: Honest Trailers

While actually doing blog posts I came across a hilarious set of YouTube videos entitled the Honest Trailers and these have been uploaded by screenjunkies. These are a must see and are brillantly executed.

What screenjunkies do is take trailers from regular box office films and review them based upon how good the film actually was and then rip them apart telling us everything that is wrong with the film, and occasionally what is right about them as well. These work so well as the person who voices over the top has one of the best voices ever and he is very clever about the way he reviews the film and makes fun of the actors by giving them comical names or by simply telling us how rubbish they actually are.

PPP1 Research: Iron Man 3

As soon as the film came out I went to go see this as I was so excited after seeing the trailer. I was surprised at how good it actually was as I wasn't sure that it would be as good as the 1st one, as the second for me was a flop compared to the first one.

The storyline was very clever and took us deeper still into the world of Iron Man and then took us back in time as well to find out more about Tony's previous life and how he really pissed off a man in the past that came back to bite him in the ass. The man in question then became very attractive and powerful, before joining together with the so called Mandarin; apparently one of the worlds worst terrorist, which has a very 'interesting' ending to that part of the story. To round off the general story the film is excellent the only place I did have an issue with the film are the Lava people.. who seem to enjoy blowing themselves up in odd places. These people where strange and didn't quite fit in with Iron Man, they were also stronger than him, making it difficult for him to fight against them even though he is Iron Man and used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. 

One fantastic part to this film was the special effects that were used as this is a particular interest of mine and I am very interested in developing this knowledge further, and the ending of the film. Despite the strange Lava Men the one part of this film this is the scene where all of the previous versions of Iron Mans suit come back to help him battle, and they do a wonderful job; if only the cameras would stay still long enough for someone to actually get a good look at which suit is shooting at the current time.

This is probably the funniest film out of the three throwing laughs every 10 minutes into thee story to keep that cheeky nature of Tony Stark alive and it's also very refreshing to see how he would cope in the situation of having to look after a child; not very well.

PPP1 Research: Super Smash Bros Brawl

Throughout my childhood I used to go round to my friends a lot as she had a Nintendo GameCube and we would spend all of our time on Super Smash Bros Melee as it was one of the best Nintendo games ever made, and I could spend so long on this game its unbelievable and since then they have also brought out a Super Smash Bros Brawl, exactly the same gameplay just improved graphics.

The gameplay simply is one massive brawl. And that is pretty much it. It is wonderful how simple this game is, and combining all of Nintendo's most popular characters together in a 4 player mash up was one of the best ideas ever. Each player has 3 lives and can get to 100% before loosing a life and the last one standing wins. Players can either go against CPU's or join together with 3 other friends to see who will come out on top. There isn't really that many tactics to this game apart from knowing the landscape and how it moves and also how to mash the attack buttons, and you'll be fine. Other than that the music is amazing and goes with the scene and characters perfectly to create a wonderful game that will never age as it is wonderful and will always be so much fun.