Name: Mark Freeman

student number: 30147374

module number:

working title: If we should.

For my 4000 word essay I will be discussing the subject of how technology could cause a lot of trouble for mankind in the future, choosing this subject I will be able to look at different types of technology like artificial intelligence and the subject on how robots are able to do jobs better than people meaning the loss of jobs in the future. I will be able to give some examples of each subject for example when discussing the Artificial intelligence I can talk about Elon Musk and his views on artificial intelligence as well as talk about the new Sophia the robot that has shocked the world when saying on live telling that it will “destroy humans” this is a great example to show when discussing humans future with technology.  When looking at the way technology is hindering people’s jobs prospects I will be able to reference self-driving cars and how they will change public transport and the people who will lose jobs because there is no need for drivers, other ways jobs will be taken is the new in ear translator, which is able to translate different languages in real time. I believe doing this as my subject means I will be able to find a lot of different media to reference due to it being a topical subject at the moment.

 

In the English dictionary Artificial intelligence is described as “the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages” this definition explains it simply but Artificial intelligence is anything but simple. It is creating a computer to think like a human and  faster than humans can think.

In 1956 John McCarthy coined the term “artificial intelligence” as the topic which he would define as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines” at the Dartmouth Conference, the first conference devoted to the subject,

“We propose that a 2 month, 10 man study of artificial intelligence be carried out during the summer of 1956 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

The study is to proceed on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it. An attempt will be made to find how to make machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves” 

 

People of interest 

John McCarthy

Jaron Lanier.

Eddie mare radio 4, pm

Quotes

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/artificial_intelligence

https://www.artificial-solutions.com/blog/homage-to-john-mccarthy-the-father-of-artificial-intelligence

Research

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/sciencetech/video-1487841/Sophia-robot-charms-hosts-Good-Morning-Britain-wit.html

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/elon-musk-billion-dollar-crusade-to-stop-ai-space-x

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/india-self-driving-cars-jobs-take-away-taxis-drivers-minister-nitin-gadkari-road-transport-highways-a7858576.html

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/google-pixel-buds-babel-fish-translation-in-ear-ai-wireless-language

Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence

 

 

Exploring the Options

 

What do you want to do?

• Creative Director

What skills and contacts do you need?

• combination of skills to be able to encourage a team of with different skills.
• management and financial skills

What sort of portfolio and work experience do you need to develop?

• There is no set route for you to follow to become a Creative Director, but it is not an entry-level role. You will usually need over five years’ experience in a senior game development position, with commercially successful titles under your belt.

Will you need an alternative income to support your work?

• no due to it being a full time job and being part of the industry for a while

Does the role involve an initial outlay on equipment?

• it would mean having a full set up in an office and at home

What jobs are out there?

 

What do you want to do?

 

• Animator (2D computer animation)

What skills and contacts do you need?

• have animation and acting skills, combined with a good sense of graphic design
• have a good working knowledge of relevant graphics, animation and compositing software, including Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects Flash and/or Cel Action
• be able to deliver on schedule, working calmly and efficiently under pressure, if required

What sort of portfolio and work experience do you need to develop?

• There is no typical career route to follow to become a 2D Computer Animator. One of the more likely routes you can follow is to be an animation graduate with some knowledge of 2D drawn animation.
• You could also achieve this role having been a 2D animator, 2D drawn effects animator, web designer, storyboard artist or illustrator.

Will you need an alternative income to support your work?

• no due to it being a full time job

Does the role involve an initial outlay on equipment?

• having a set up at home similar to the one in the place of work

What jobs are out there?

 

What do you want to do?

• External Producer

What skills and contacts do you need?

• have a clear understanding of the role and requirements of a game publishing company and a game development company
• understand the development and publishing processes from a game’s design phase through to its release
• be able to manage people, time and resources

What sort of portfolio and work experience do you need to develop?

• There is no set route for you to follow in becoming an External Producer, but it is not an entry-level role. You will usually need to have over five years’ experience in games development, and will have worked on several commercially available titles.

Will you need an alternative income to support your work?

• no because it will mean needing to have experience in the job role

Does the role involve an initial outlay on equipment?

•  a home computer but nothing like the previous jobs due to not needing the software etc.

What jobs are out there?

 

 

Introduction to narrative theory

 

Vladimir Propp

sphere of action

all character reduced to 8 roles

1. Villain
2. Hero – Character who is seeking something, motivated by an initial lack of something, morally good

3. Donor – Provides an object with some magical / key property
4. Helper – Helps the hero
5. Princess – The reward for the hero and object of the villains scheming
6. Father of Princess – Rewarder of the hero
7. Dispatcher – Sends the hero on the initial quest, ask for help to destroy the villain
8. False Hero – Appears to be of good intention, but may aid the villain

Example-

 

Star Wars – each character acting as one of Propp’s characters

1. villain- Darth vader
2. hero- Luke Skywalker
3. donor- obi wan
4. helper- hans solo
5. princess- leia
6. father of princess-
7. dispatcher-obi wan
8. false hero- the emperor

Tzvetan Todorov

• Equilibrium – Opposing forces are balanced
• Disruption
• Recognition of disruption
• Attempt to repair the disruption
• A new equilibrium is established

Example-

Zombie land –

1. Equilibrium- Normal world
2. Disruption- Zombie out break
3. Recognition of disruption- start to kill zombies
4. Attempt to repair the disruption- try to find a safe zone
5. A new equilibrium is established- earn to live in zombie land

 

 

 

Roland Barthes

 

• many threads to a narrative
• different meanings from different perspectives

• multiple places to join the narrative

   

Example-

pulp fiction

It has different narratives at different points in the movie timeline and different out comes to points in the movie.

Claude Levi-Strauss

• Binary Oppositions
• good vs evil
• different meanings based on particular viewpoints

 

Example-

 

Scott Pigrim – the main “good guy” character has to battle 7 evil ex’s to go out with a girl, the different view points from the ex’s because they are fighting because they still want the girl.

Narrative Ideas

For my Point and click Game I liked the idea of having a story based in space an Astronaut being stuck on the moon or in a space station and having to collected different objects and solve puzzles to fix his ship and get home, I like the idea because it meant i could research space witch i have a good interest in and it would be a lot of fun to make the different models for objects and the character. I researched different ideas of what moon camps would look like as well as different types of space stations and they were all very different meaning i had a lot of room to make my our type. I did try to create a Astronaut  in Zbrush but i wasn’t happy with it, mainly because i wasn’t good on zbrush. 

But after thinking on the idea of making the idea of space i decided to have another think so see i i could come up with a more fun idea and while watching My niece play with her toys and lose them i came up with the idea for a story involving a baby in a nursery solving crime as if it was a film noir, for example there would be an inner monologue where the baby would talk to the audience and as anti of humour to the game, i also like the idea of making the world around the baby big with larch tables, chairs and toys. I also though it would be a fun idea to put the baby character into a coat or shirt with a tie that is way too big for it so it looks like they are just playing a game. I thought i would give making the baby in Zbrush a try after
watching a tutorial on character modelling which made the process look a lot easier. This model looks alot better and i think a lot more funnier when i added the Nappy for the baby to wear.

Zbrush

while on a break between lessons today i watch a video tutorial on Zbrush, when i created my astronaut i used one whole sphere and only used certain brushes to add and take away parts, but this video showed me how to remove whole pieces  with cliprect brush which means i can create the shape i want and alter it rather than removing parts to get it. I also learnt how to add it other shapes and merge them into mine to model them as one piece.