LUMINA - Australian journal of screen arts and business

Is Stereo3D the saviour of cinema or a disaster waiting to happen? What is ‘magic realism’ and why are these films so successful? What opportunities does ‘complex’ narrative bring for off-Hollywood filmmakers? These are just some of the questions tackled in the latest issue of Lumina.

Lumina is the journal of screen arts and business published by the Australian Film TV and Radio School and now into issue 3 is developing into a substantial and detailed journal of industry relevent ideas and perspectives.

My contribution to Lumina this issue deals with Genre and Computer gaming; How can genre in gaming be better understood to make more effective games and better tuned player experiences?

I sorely wish AFTRS would put Lumina online. It seems an anathema in 2010 that such information be only availible in print. But, that said you can order Lumina online through the AFTRS online store.

In the meantime below is an extract from my essay.

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Genre can be a complex, nuanced and often subjective concept. Link it with the challenging paradigms presented by narrative-based computer gaming and it becomes deceptively thorny.

Yet, despite the thorns, two perspectives should stand out for all creative media practitioners in 2010; be they directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, editors, sound or production designers.

The first is that narrative-based computer gaming is an irrefutably vibrant part of contemporary screen culture. Emotive stories and increasingly complex cinematic experiences are being told and felt on screen, through games with dynamism and energy.

The second, on a distinctly more pragmatic level, is that with such a significant cinematic form - one with huge audience draw - now embedded in the mainstream, there are great opportunities to generate new creative opportunities for working cinematic artists. Gaming could provide a significant opportunity to grow, rather than just sustain, an Australian creative screen-media industry.  

The evolution and maturation of narrative-gaming has game developers looking externally rather than internally for skills and inspiration.  Game productions are increasingly employing traditionally skilled writers, designers, editors, cinematographers, composers and sound designers to work creatively in gaming as a narrative and cinematic experience. These game producers recognise that  creators of aural and visual narrative have a set of skills which are as applicable to narrative gaming as they are to film and TV.
 
Which brings us to the idea of Genre. Long present in understanding and articulating literature, genre in regard to cinema similarly serves to mark out a set of common tenets and conventions that appear with consistency across a range of films over time. From an analytical perspective the study of genre is less a method for grouping than it is a process of identifying; a means to observe and recognise traits and characteristics, structures and devices that are extant within a body of films. But for creators, rather than analysts, genre takes on a more dynamic mode: it is a tool by which to leverage, shape and assemble a work, and to access audience desires.

Using genre as a tool for shaping a work with any dexterity or force requires an understanding of what the genre is, how it works and - more importantly - what the audience expects of it.