Task 3 - Creating Dialog

Task 3 - Creating Dialog

Game dialogue sources - 

There are many ways that dialogue is communicated within video games. For example, in Mortal Kombat there are several ways dialogue is distributed throughout. The most popular example is a when you are having an interaction with a character they will say something to intimidate their opponent. Quotes like this give the player a feeling of submersion and give them a sense of pride once you have killed the opponent.

Another game that uses dialogue in their game is 'Grand Theft Auto V', they use dialogue throughout the entire game and is used not only between the main characters but the NPC's will give some sort of dialogue to try and give the player a sense of actually being in the game. 

For my own story script, I would add dialogue that immerses the player into the story and makes them feel involved instead of being an outsider  

Verbal elements of narration  -

Narration in video games is when there is dialogue either spoken or in a text format to describe the story and what is going on. The narration is usually spoken over the top of a cut scene or either it's in text and will show up while on a mission. An example of this is in the game 'Battlefield 1', while you are in the cut scene before the mission starts you will have the main character explain what's going on during the time of the mission. The narration gives the player either a quick overview of why they're in the situation they're in or can tell you what the character is thinking or feeling. For my own script, I may have some narration in the form of who the character is.

Monologue in scripts is when a character will have a long-overdrawn speech by themselves. This is most popular when the character is talking to himself. For example, if the main character is travelling by himself he may begin to talk about what he's thinking, feeling or what his next plan may be. Monologues are very popular in films and can be used to create an atmosphere like in The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith he has a short monologue explaining that you should protect your dreams and go them which has a very touching and warm feel to it. A monologue can also be part of a conversation usually when it's very sentimental and they give some words of wisdom, for example, in Naughty Dog's Red Dead Redemption there is a scene in which Dutch speaks his final words saying how "we can't always fight nature" and giving some inspirational words. For my own script, I may use a monologue since my character is quite a loner and keeps to himself it may work in that sense.  

Dialogue is any conversation between two or more people. Dialogue features in books, films, games, plays etc. In all sorts of media, dialogue is very important otherwise the play or book film or whatever case would be one long tedious monologue along with a few points of description in between. In games dialogue between characters is vital, it is found in every story line and sometimes even in the multiplayer. A prime example of dialogue is in the game 'The Last of Us' where Joel meets up with multiple other characters along the way and they discuss things from how they're doing to their ways of surviving the apocalypse. For my own script, I will add dialogue between characters so that I have a story to go with. 

Script Writing -

Scripts are very exclusive to any other text format, they have very distinct things that set them out as different from the others. For example, in a script the dialogue between characters will be directly in the middle of the page rather than following the typical right to left. Also in scripts you will have stage ques which will tell the actor/actress what to do as well as what to say. Other things that set themselves apart from other text is that before a scene is set there will be a 'FADE IN:' ques. After this will be where the scene is set, this is where the story is based, what it looks like and whats going on will be described. Below i have added an example of a script from the film Godfather. 

Industry Practice -

For my script, I decided to do the beginning scene. I did a dream/flashback scenario for my character in which he relieves his past experience of being in a situation where his friends die and he can't do anything about it. This is the cause of his PTSD and the reason why he is no longer a soldier. 

I think that my script was well set and thought out. It consisted of dialogue between the characters but then once he wakes up there is a narration from my main character. 

Overall I think the script shows why the character is closed off to the civilian life.

Script - 

FADE IN:

Opening
EXT. - Baghdad, Iraq - 4.35pm

July 3^rd, 2022, around 35 degrees Celsius, the suns is lowering behind the hills. Team of four sit on top a hillside on over watch. They watch a small closed off village in which they suspect their target, Ahamed Al Inquiri, is hiding. The surrounding mountains are very dry and dusty surround by patches of dark green shrubs. The team of four is split up into two groups, Anthony Kruger are one sniper team, Cooks and Dean make up another team perched around 50 meters away watching over another angle. 

Anthony KRUGER

*whispering* Tom, TOM! I get wait to get out of this sinkhole, what are you doing when you get home?

First Seargent Tom Mann

I’m going straight to my parents’ house, I haven’t seen them in so long. How about your parents? I’ve never heard you mention them

Anthony Kruger

They died when I was 22, car accident, drunk driver t-boned them doing 85. Never caught the guy cause the car was already stolen.

First Seargent Tom Mann

Sorry… that’s a shit situation… Hope you catch the fucker.

Anthony Kruger

He’ll be long gone now, cops stopped searching a while ago, they just say it’s an open case. Same old, same old

I have visual, north east 425 meters

First Seargent Tom Mann

Radio in for those two to get on our mark

Anthony kruger

Yes sir.

(over the radio)

Anthony Kruger

Cooks, Dean get over here we have visual. Over

*barely hearable over the radio*

Cooks

We’re on our way. Over

Anthony Kruger

Get a move on, we’re ready to him out. Over

(Dean and Cooks walking behind the Tom and Anthony who are lay down on the edge of the cliff)

Dean 

Where is he?

First Seargent Tom Mann

He’s down there, we need to get him while it’s still light, we’ll lose him in the dark and we can’t risk it. Cooks, call an attack in.

Cooks

Are you sure? The radios aren’t working properly the order might not go through. We could just move tomor--

First Seargent Tom Mann

What did I say?... We move now, we don’t have any time for discussion.

Anthony Kruger

Are you sure about this?

First Seargent Tom Mann

I'm sure, this will work     

(Cooks calls in over the radio)

Cooks

Come in, this is Kilo, Two, Alpha, We need an airstrike coming off our location. Over

(Repeatedly taps on the radio which isn’t functioning fully)

Cooks

Again, this is Kilo, Two, Alpha, We have visual and need assistance. Requesting strike on our flare. Over

                            (through a load of static, making the communication barely hearable)

Command post

Repeat… Attack… flare… ETA…

Cooks

We’re not getting anything through, I told you the radios down. What’s our move now?

First Seargent Tom Mann    

We’ll move in slowly ourselves. Me, Cooks and Dean will move down there and Kruger you’ll stay here and watch from above. Cooks call them in and cancel that strike. Everyone okay with that?

Anthony Kruger                                                       Dean

                                           Yes sir                                                               yes sir

Cooks

 yes…. Yes sir…

(Cooks calls back over the radio, banging it against his hand before hoping to get the message through)

Cooks

This is Kilo, Two, Alpha, we are no longer in need our assistance, we are cancelling the call for backup. Repeat, we are cancelling the call for back up.

     (nothing I received but static, they all look at each other and they assume the message was received and carry on)

Dean

Are we moving?

First Seargent Tom Mann    

Of course, we’re moving. Let’s go, on me.

(Tom, Dean and Cooks begin heading down the hill while Kruger adjusts his position to get comfy)

---after 8 minutes of walking---

(The team of three kneel about 30 meters away from the village in the darkness hidden by their camo, they are disguised by shrub)

First Seargent Tom Mann   

Right, the plan is we take it slow using the cover we have, there’s a suspected nest of them in one of the houses on the far side of the village.

Dean, I need you to move through the door of the first house then Cooks you’ll follow clearing the room. Once clear we will set ourselves for a few hours and decide how we’re doing this, they have around 25-70 lookouts surrounding this place. Do not be surprised if they already know we’re here.

This is just us on this, we have no back up except Kruger back on that ledge so we need to slow dance this.

(The team of three make their way to what looks like an abandoned house and move in)

Dean

Breaching the door now…

(Dean creaks the door open slowly and Cooks follows him into an empty room, Tom makes his way upstairs and clears the two main rooms while Crooks sets himself at the main window which is barred off)

Cooks

Movement in house north east from my position, cannot confirm our target. Sir, we’re going to need a better position.

First Seargent Tom Mann   

We’re going to move from house to house and clear this place out. Silently though, we can’t have the entire camp of them on our ass. 

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

Kruger is still lay down on the cliff side, he has lost vision of his team who were last seen by him when they entered the house in the village. He’s prepared himself for a long night watching over the village, talking to himself to keep himself company.

(attempting radio contact)

Anthony Kruger

What are you lot doing down there, how long is this going to take?

----------------------

Anthony Kruger

No radio, no visual, can’t do much from sat up here, what was the point in leaving m---

(The sound of jets interrupts his train of thought)

Support?!? Wasn’t that cancelled? They must’ve got through in the end...

They wouldn’t have cancelled and re-asked for it? Something’s not right

(over static filled radio)

Command post

...... Visual.... village.....Ready to..... bombs

Anthony kruger

NO! WE HAVE MEN DOWN THERE! REPEAT, WE HAVE THREE MEN DOWN IN THAT VILLAGE, DO NOT DROP.

(Anthony smashes the radio off the palm of his hand desperately trying to get it to work)

THIS IS KILO, TWO, ALPHA, WE HAVE THREE MEN IN ONE OF THOSE HOUSES, YOU'RE GOING TO KILL THEM.

(Anthony watches as three fighter jets shoot over his head and)

Stupid fucking radio’s. This can’t be happening.

(explosions blow up the village till what’s left is nothing but rubble, smoke and dust.

 An incoming, faint radio communication)

Command post

...Success...

He watches in horror knowing the men he left to go down into the village are now dead. But they did not die to the enemy, they were murdered by the same people they are trying to protect due to simple radio malfunctions.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

Wake up
INT - Anthony's front room - Early Morning 

Santa Clarita, March 2023, seven months since his honourable discharge. Anthony Kruger now lives a rural life by himself and his dog Max. It’s been 8 months since his Honourable discharge, he was released due to PTSD, he is starting to get back into the civilian life well by being by himself most of the time. He is woken up at 5.33am by Max howling and scratching at the door to get out.

Narration by Anthony

(Anthony slept on the couch)

I have the same dream every night. Reliving the same moment over and over in my head like a broken tape stuck on a loop. What if? That question... What if? What if I stopped them from going? What if I went with them? What if the radio worked?

‘Life contracts and death is expected,

As in season of autumn.

The soldier falls.

He does not become a three-day personage

 Imposing his separation,

 Calling for pomp.

Death is absolute and without memorial,

As in a season of autumn,

 When the wind stops,

When the wind stops and, over the heavens,

The clouds go, nevertheless,

 In their direction.

(walking up to the door where Max is barking he wipes the sleep from his eyes)

Anthony

What are you doing? There’s nothing out there this early.

(Max begins growling and barking at the sky)

Max! leave the birds alone.

The sky is still unlit by the sun, and there are very few birds chirping which is unusual. There is no breeze and the trees look like statues under the mild weather. Everything looks off. 

FADE OUT:

Task 2 - Creating a Story

Unit 74 - Task 2 - Creating a Story

Weekly Blog

Week 1-

This week I created a brainstorm of 3 ideas:

Idea 1: The first idea that I thought of is a military science fiction which introduces us to Sargent Frank Stone who has been tasked with conducting an operation along with his team which goes wrong while they are on duty. For the foreshadowing feature, i would highlight the fact that the same operation has been attempted before but everybody died while doing it. 

Idea 2: The Second idea is a Robot sci-fi with the lead protagonist being AI called C.A.N.E which stands for 'Computer Automated Nano Electronics' and the main plot would be that people are trying to get him shut down because of fears he is too advanced and will overthrow humans. 

Idea 3: My last idea is an alien invasion on earth which has Anthony Kruger who is an army veteran in the near future when the earth receives a strange signal which turns out to be aliens threatening earth/ trying to save the earth. A symbol of this will be when either some of the satellites start crashing or when sightings are seen but nothing is said about it.

I decided to go with idea number 3 because I can expand my views to what I want and I can also incorporate other ideas into it.

I also found some concept art to help inspire me to write: 

 

 this will help me stick to what I want my story to be instead of steering off on a tangent.

Week 2 - 

Opening: For this part of my story I will start off by introducing the main character and what his past is, I will also include what he looks like along with his surroundings. I also hope to include some foreshadowing whether that is stories of mysterious events on the news or some kind of objects in the sky.

Rising Action: This will follow straight from the opening and will contain some suspense within the characters lives maybe a slight dilemma for the main character but not one that will alter the story.

Climax: This will be the maximum point of suspense of the story, this will be where the main theme for the story will be revealed and the main character will have a big dilemma to solve.

Falling Action: At this part, the story is slowly settling down and the story is looking to end. The main character will have solved his dilemma and everything will be looking to go to an end and everything should go back to normal.There may also be a slight twist towards the end of the fall and change the story slightly.

Ending: This is where the main character will look back on the previous events and learn from them. He may have learned a valuable lesson because of what happened

Week 3 – inspirational writing - 

For my story, I will take inspiration from multiple sources including some films and books. First would be H.G.Wells' 1898 sci-fi novel 'The War of the Worlds' which is his view on a Martian attack. I will then look at several films that focus on what I would want my story to seem like. Independence Day featuring Will Smith is a film that I will look at and possibly take inspiration from. Another is the 2012 film Battleship which is based on military figures coming together to battle aliens.

Week 4 - First Draft - 

This is the first draft for my story I didn't add everything that I would have liked, for example, more description on what he looks like and more about his own background and what he has been through. Furthermore, more my final piece I will go into more detail about some places and people instead of skipping over a lot of the scenes. 

Santa Clarita, California, 2023, 6 years into the future here on earth. Anthony Kruger is a 36-year-old, Caucasian, army veteran standing at 6 foot 2 who is now seven months out of the army and nine years clean from alcohol. He supports scars throughout his body but his most notable of these is his 4-inch-long slash across his left cheek which he got while on duty in Afghanistan but the one he remembers most is the smallest and most insignificant, it is about 2 centimetres in length on the inside of his right hand that he received when he was last drunk. Each time he sees it he is reminded of his struggle with alcohol and the rage and despair it has caused in the past.

 He lives a quiet, sheltered life with his German shepherd Max who is his four-year-old army dog who helps treat Anthony’s acute PTSD. His house is situated in a very rural area in the hills away from the city life, finding comfort in the leaves the trees and the grass. He keeps to himself, rarely leaving his house and does not talk about his past life. Each day he wanders into the beautifully green forest to hunt deer, elk and moose but also to protect it from trophy hunters that want to disrupt the tranquillity and peace of the forest.

August 13th - 0533hr - Seems like any other day, Anthony wakes up to a barking dog at 5.37am, he drags himself up to see what Max is barking at but there doesn't seem to be anything causing the outburst. Anthony decides to let him out and as he does Max starts howling hysterically at the morning sky but he quickly dismisses this as the birds so he decides to get a shower. Whilst there his PTSD starts attacking him, throwing past experiences of the sacrifices he's been through in his missions abroad. The men that have been lost around him, not only friends but a bond that cannot be broken yet somehow was because of a few wrong orders in the heat of battle, he feels that he should have died with his brothers on the Cliffside. He awakes from the flashback, collapsed on the tired bathtub the room temperature raised drastically and shakes off the visions of the ghosts that still haunt him wherever he goes. 

0613hr – Dressed and dry he collects his porridge from the cupboard accompanied by an apple and a glass of orange juice and feeds Max the usual tinned, sloppy dog food which he receives generously. The warm porridge is taken in at a slow pace as though trying to kill time, the days seem to get longer for him as the years go on, and his past problems with alcohol torment him with every passing minute, pushing him to take another sip from the bottle. He ponders the events of the day shortly before the morning sun creeps over the tall mountain range, maybe he’ll head into town and pick up a few things or he may work on his shooting in the exquisite morning forest.

0658hr – Meanwhile, 1600 miles away in Houston, Texas, the Johnson Space Centre are receiving signals which have not been created by any man-made objects. The signals seem to be coming from somewhere near Saturn possibly one of its surrounding moons, a mass panic sets around the offices as they are trying to figure out whether this is a cleverly planned joke put out by the higher ups. The signal is a series of beeps and pauses which does not make sense to any of the NASA employees who are rapidly trying to figure out what it could mean before any action is taken but something must be done now.

The discoverer of the mysterious signal, a grey-haired expert who has been working day in – day out for 29 years makes a distressed phone call to General Mike Peel warning him of the strange signals. This is not the type of morning anyone saw coming 

0723hr – Word has reached the President of the United States but word of the alien signal is only spoken by very few people in hush tone and has been declared no hoax, there is a slight panic in the small collective of people that know. The President gathers the Vice President along with his generals come together in the situation room to decide how to deal with this and whether or not it should be broadcasted to the public as a warning. The escalating discussion is very back and forth on what we should do, the heated conversation is split in two, one-half saying that the news should be told to the general public but the other half say that this would cause fear within them. The President sits quietly throughout the chat, hands folded with his head slightly down, he then slowly stands up to voice his opinion. As he does so the room suddenly becomes silent, he says “We will release what we know to the public and let them know we are working on deciphering these signals. You will take no further questions and get back to work figuring out what the hell is going on” with that said everyone in the room scurries away to do what needs doing.

0804hr – News is released on a mysterious signal that is being received from an unknown place, scientists are baffled as to what the signal could possibly mean but they are positive that it is no hoax and coming from a region in space close to Saturn. The hundreds of scientists working on – what they suspect to be – an attempt at communication from the unknown. News stations around the globe are going crazy at the discovery that was made. France, Britain, Germany, Italy, every single country is giving out their own interpretation on what this could possibly mean to the human race. Are they coming for our natural material? Do they want to hurt us? Why us? Many, many questions are being asked but not one can be answered which is a scary thought.

Week 5 - 

I finished re-writing my story and it is now complete.

Here is my final story for submission:

Santa Clarita, California, March 2023, six years into the future on the forever deteriorating earth. Anthony Kruger is a 36-year-old army veteran standing at six feet two inches tall. He is a Caucasian male who has rough skin with a five o’clock shadow. He has short dark brown hair and a typical army hair cut which he keeps despite it being seven months since his honourable discharge after a communications error causes a blue on blue accident which led to three of his friends being killed and left him severely traumatised from the incident. He is now nine years sober from alcohol and is tempted to go back to his old ways every waking day because he doesn’t think he can make it through each day yet forces himself to. He supports several scars across his body that he has collected like badges over the years. The most notable of these is a four-inch-long slash that is sprayed across his left cheek. It lies from the bridge of his nose towards his chin, he acquired this while in Afghanistan when he was attacked by a lone extremist who was being detained. Despite this, the one he remembers the most may be the smallest and most insignificant to others, it is a slight mark about two centimetres in length. It buries itself on the inside of his right hand where his thumb is. He obtained this when he was last drunk and each time he looks at it, he is reminded of his past indiscretions, struggle and the pain it caused not just to him but to the people that were affected by his actions.

He lives a quiet, sheltered life with his German shepherd Max who is his four-year-old army dog who helps treat Anthony’s acute PTSD. His house is situated in a very rural area in the hills away from the city life, finding comfort in the leaves the trees and the grass. He keeps to himself, rarely leaving his house and does not talk about his past life. Each day he wanders into the beautifully green forest to hunt deer, elk and moose but also to protect it from trophy hunters that want to disrupt the tranquillity and peace of the forest.

March 13th - 0533hr – Before the day has even begun before the sun has risen over the horizon, the day seems like any other. Anthony is rudely woken up at 5.33am by the bellowing howls and barks being released by a seemingly distressed dog. He drags himself up from his bed to look at what Max could possibly be barking at. Upon inspection, there doesn’t seem to be anything causing this outburst by Max and so he decided to let him out into the open land and as he does so Max begins letting off an infuriating howl along with a menacing bark at the morning sky. Anthony decides to dismiss this due to birds or some other kind of animal that he couldn’t get to so he chooses to go and get a shower to freshen himself up. Mid-shower Anthony is attacked by a hailstorm of past experiences, his PTSD does not care where he is or what he’s doing when it hits him. The history and horror that he has endured not just because of his sacrifices whilst on missions abroad and the brothers he has lost while in combat but the regret of never being able to say goodbye to his parents who were tragically lost in a car accident nine years ago. He still believes that he could have done something, anything that may have altered the events on that day. This is the reason he decided to go sober and get his life on track by joining the marine core. He awakens from the nightmare collapsed onto the tired bathtub on his hands and knees, his heart rate has a drastic increase and can barely catch his breath in the heated room. Anthony lifts his heavy head up from the excess water left from the shower with a large sigh of relief that this is nothing but a memory and he does not have to relive these ghosts that haunt him on a daily basis.

0613hr – Once he’s dressed and dry he decides to make himself a warm bowl of porridge coupled with a fresh apple and a ripely poured glass orange juice he then feeds Max his usual sloppy, tinned dog food which he receives and devours generously. The humid, bland porridge is eaten at a very slow pace so that as though he is attempting to pass the time. The days for Anthony seem to get longer and longer as the months since his honourable discharge from the military. The past problems that he suffers regarding the alcohol abuse torment and bugs him with every passing minute enticing him to go and take a large glassful from the unopened, clear bottle. He wonders about what his plan for the day is not too long before the stunning, crisp, early morning sun peaks over the high mountain range. He considers his day ahead, maybe he’ll walk max into the town and pick up a few things or maybe practise on his shooting in the gorgeous morning woods.

0658hr – Meanwhile, 1600 miles away in Houston, Texas, the Johnson Space Centre are receiving signals which have not been created by any man-made objects. The signals seem to be coming from somewhere near Saturn possibly one of its surrounding moons, a mass panic sets around the offices as they are trying to figure out whether this is a cleverly planned joke put out by the higher ups. The incoming signal seems to be a continuous loop of high-frequency beeps and occasional pauses, the mysterious noise does not seem to make any sense to a single experienced employee who is rushing around panicking on what this could mean to humanity and its continuous existence.

The man who discovered this shady, unnerving signal Dr Heinz Schient who is a grey-haired expert who has been working for NASA for 29 years makes a distressed phone call to his superior, General Mike Peel. A strict looking figure with a very square jaw supporting a typical crew cut haircut with the sides beginning to turn a light grey. The phone call being very brief and the General putting down the call once he had been informed of the possibly tragic news.

0723hr – Word has reached the very worried President of the United States along with other leaders of the world but word of the alien signal is only spoken between very few, shocked people in hush tone and has been declared no hoax, there is a slight panic in the small collective of people that know. The President gathers the Vice President along with his generals come together in the situation room to decide how to deal with this and whether or not it should be broadcasted to the public as a warning. The escalating discussion is very back and forth on what we should do, the heated conversation is split in two, one-half saying that the news should be told to the general public but the other half say that this would cause fear within them. The President sits quietly throughout the chat, hands folded with his head slightly down, he then slowly stands up to voice his opinion. As he does so the room suddenly becomes silent, he says “We will release what we know to the public and let them know we are working on deciphering these signals. You will take no further questions and get back to work figuring out what the hell is going on” with that said everyone in the room scurries away to do what needs doing.

0804hr – News is released on a mysterious signal that is being received from an unknown place, scientists are baffled as to what the signal could possibly mean but they are positive that it is no hoax and coming from a region in space close to Saturn. The hundreds of scientists working on – what they suspect to be – an attempt at communication from the unknown. News stations around the globe are going crazy at the discovery that was made. France, Britain, Germany, Italy, every single country is giving out their own interpretation on what this could possibly mean to the human race. Are they coming for our natural material? Do they want to hurt us? Why us? Many, many questions are being asked but not one can be answered which is a scary thought.

0834hr – Anthony who is none the wiser about anything that is going on with no TV, no phone or any other way of communicating with the outside world other than physical contact which is on the occasion either with other hunters in the forest or when he socialises on his trips out. He finally decides on heading to the market which is about a mile and a half away from his home, he gets max’s lead from the hanger and plucks his coat from next to it. He starts his long walk up the steep hill by picking up a stick and throwing it for Max who proceeds to chase it.

Major Subheadings

Purpose - 

For this assignment, we received a brief from Cloud Imperium Games explaining how they want me to create a new story for the game 'Star Citizen'. In the brief, they indicate what they want their game to include, they say 'There is a prison ship taking criminals across the galaxy when disaster strikes'. After reading this short brief I am told they want a sci-fi story but to make it easier on myself I decided to make it a story on earth and bring the story to here, therefore I can write about what I already know.

For my story, I looked at all different types of game genres for different ages and where they sit among men and women to get a better perspective at my target audience. In the picture below is an overview of the game Crash Bandicoot, it gives the percentage of men against women as well as the others. There is also the average age that this game is played at which is 23. On the right, there is a percentile chart of where the game stands on each.

Components - 

In all stories, they will have a main theme that the story will revolve around or reoccurring themes. In films such as Braveheart and 300 focus on a battle, films such as Blindside focus on Triumph over Adversity and cliche themes like Good vs Evil are shown everywhere such as Star Wars, James Bond, Die Hard. A lot of game stories also follow this when creating a story. Most popular in my opinion would be Heero or Heroism which features an abundance of games like Duke Nukem, Lara Croft in Tomb Raider and Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series.

The main theme that I will focus on for my story will be the word 'Faith' and the characters having faith in what's to come or in someone else. The setting for my sci-fi will be earth possibly America and 6 years from now, so 2023. 

There are a few backstories that I could possibly go with for my main character, the first being a man that is down on his luck, he has lost his job and his home so has to live with his parents.

The second idea is an army veteran who suffers from PTSD and a long lasting stance against alcohol. He lost his friends while overseas.

Another conception of a backstory is a rich African American man who grew up through struggle and now owns his own company and sees many people as beneath him because they don't work hard enough.

Plot Devices -  

MacGuffin - A MacGuffin is an object that is the main theme behind the film. An example of this is the infinity stones that are used in a multitude of films in the Marvel universe, films like 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'The Avengers' use these objects to base a story around. Each of the stones possess a certain power that is very valuable and the stones allow the company to create upcoming films as the series can follow their story. Another film to use a MacGuffin would be the 'Star Wars' franchise, they use the 'force' as an idea to base the series from. It is used to explain things that otherwise can’t be explained. 

Deus Ex Machina - Another plot device that i looked at was Deus Ex Machina, this is when your character is on a cliffhanger and is saved from an unlikely source. This scenario is mainly used in ending situations in a lot of films and TV shows to save the main character. An example of this would be in the Deadpool movie when at the end Ajax is fighting with Deadpool and he is in a situatuion where he could possibly die and it takes copycat to save him. This has turned into somewhat of a cliche now in the film industry as some people can see it coming very easily. 

Red Herring - A red herring is a clue within a film that is put there to be misleading or distracting to the viewer. An example of a red herring would be in the novel 'The Da Vinci Code' in which we assume that Bishop Aringarosa is part of the main plot surrounding the conspiracy yet we find out that he had been fooled by the real villain in the end. If you also translate the bishops name you find that 'Aringa' = herring and rosa = red. 

Character Devices - 

The antagonist is the main villain that goes against the hero of the story. The antagonist may have apposing views to the hero which makes them think of themselves as their own hero like in Xmen: apocalypse where Apocalypse see's himself as trying to fix the lost human race by destroying the world and rebuilding it. The antagonist from a film isn't always a person out to get the hero, it can also be from nature like in the film Jaws where the shark is the main villain. However some films don't have an antagonist to follow such as in Castaway and Forrest Gump.

Another character type that i looked at is the protagonist. This character is the hero of the story or who the main story will revolve around. S/he is the person that will embark on the hero's journey in films, games and books. like in the film 'Mad Max'. During the story, they will usually have to overcome obstacles which is usually the traps of the villain. The protagonist will sometimes have a sidekick with them like in the batman comic and TV series.

Non-Playable Characters (NPC’s) are characters in games that allow you feel like you’re in an actual world as it takes you to a store or something. For my game the playable character would be the main protagonist and everyone else would be the NPC's such as the villains and the civilians.  

Character Backstories - 

Physical – Male, 6ft 2", 36, 15st-ish, a typical John Doe dark-brown hair and brown eyes, he stands straight as a symbol of his army past and is polite, deep, rough voice as though he needs to cough.

Sociological – small circle of friends, no siblings parents died in a car crash 6 years ago, all finances in order, accountant, and very good grades at good schools, gave up on alcohol and joined the army once his parents died when he was 22. Lives isolated, away from the city because of the stress is caused. 

Psychological - Atheist, PTSD has him stressed, looks for the silver lining, and doesn’t really look at the bad. Random outbursts of anger from time to time. 

Issues of representation – has no real issues with people judging him. 

Character growth - During the course of the story I hope to include a sub-story where the main character has to overcome his isolation with other people, he may make some friends with the people he meets along the way. He has a strong will and people feed off this meaning he can help others overcome their fears. 

Narrative Flow - 

The narrative flow would be how the story flows from one event to the next. An example of this would be the objectives give to the main character to get through his quest. An example of this is in the campaign for call of duty where you have tasks to complete before moving onto the next mission. This type of system works very well and is long standing for a reason.. because it works. One of the earliest games, Mario, uses this technique in its games, in which you must complete levels to move to the next, collecting coins before rescuing the princess. 

The narrative flow doesn't always go this way however, as it can come from decisions that the player/character makes during the story, In games such as the walking dead series allows you to decide what to do and how to answer questions etc. 

Industry Practice - 

When you are creating a story, there are certain industry practises to go along with. The primary focus would be to identify the meaning behind the story, this is whether you are creating the story for  a game, film or book. In my case i am creating a story for a game and therefore i would look to put options in where the player can choose the next move for the character to make them feel more immersed in the game.

Reflection - The reflection aspect after creating a story would be to look at what went well in the story as well as what could be improved during a second draft or the second time you write the story. This can be anything from changing the dialogue to the surroundings of the character.   
When I first set out after brainstorming my ideas were to create a story which follows a socially awkward man who hides away from people but then has to overcome this to fight the unknown. Once finished with my story I was quite pleased with my final piece, I think it contains everything I would have liked to add and everything my story needs. 

Production -  The production feature is how well you coped with the time and workflow during the creation of your story. When writing a story, you are sometimes set a deadline to follow which mean the time has to be set out to draft, write and re-write a story.  Once given my brief I feel that I set myself enough time to plan, create and finalise my story with all the needed components. I feel through the weeks my story has progressed and became better as the weeks passed by. 

Sources for images:

http://earth-chronicles.com/hypothesis/alien-invasion-will-happen-in-2017.html

https://missiongalacticfreedom.wordpress.com/category/ufo/page/12/ 

https://www.tes.com/lessons/w8QXdaXoqklI5g/parts-of-a-story

http://quanticfoundry.com/2015/09/04/game-audience-profiles/