DTE Project | Gamefroot (Hypogeal)

These past few weeks during this term, we have been learning about robotics, coding and game development in DTE, we also learnt about using Makey Makey kits and other things that include coding as well. At the end of the term, our group had to come up with a project that includes the things we have learnt in the past few weeks, we decided on developing a game based on Halloween and the dinosaur game you can play when there's no internet. We used Scratch and made our own game characters in it, we planned on making a controller and use Makey Makey to play the game.

Our first idea was to make a game based on the dinosaur game, it was a fairly simple game to start with so we started making the game on Scratch, we made our own characters and coded all of them ourselves.

While making our game from scratch and coding every individual character, we soon realized that the game we are making wouldn't be suitable to make using scratch, so we stopped working on our first idea and moved on to work on Gamefroot which worked really well.

We decided on making two levels, we based it on an apocalyptic world where the player must find the end while surviving as long as possible, the player will be faced with zombies and radioactive plants on the first level and robotic skeletons and lasers on the second level, the player can regain HP by obtaining mushrooms and chicken, for the rest of the game, the player needs to obtain other things too such as guns and hearts to survive, they will face obstacles that they need to jump over or kill.

While focusing on finishing the game, we realised that we still needed to make our own controller in order to play the game using the Makey Makey kits, we decided that we should just finish the game as it is and leave out our first idea of using Makey Makey to play our game.

Reflection

We worked really well as a group while making the game, each of us had our own assigned work so we wouldn't be confused about what we were supposed to be doing. we planned our game quite well and our theme was already set, our time management could improve so that we could have made our controller and still stuck with our original plan of using the Makey Makey kits, but our problem was mostly about not using the right programming tool to make our game. Everything soon went according to our plans when we started using Gamefroot, we did have to redo our whole plan but the was quite easy, I suggested that we do something that includes an apocalyptic theme and decided to name it 'Hypogeal'.

Finished Game Link (HYPOGEAL)

The game - HYPOGEAL

Workshop - Essay Planning | English

 Workshop-Essay Planning

Shooting the apple - hope and rebellion

Techniques:

Music lighting colour

Angles/Shots/Movements

Costume

• Diegetic sound

• Katniss - dark, dim, artificial, grey, black, blues - matches peers

• Senica - vibrant, bright, colour variety - pink, more privileged/individuals

• Costume - Katniss - training suit, tributes all look the same

Capitol - individuals - all different, over the top, extravagant

• Close-ups - see the reactions, Katniss-pensive, shocked

• High angle - once Katniss shoots the apple, makes her look weak and vulnerable.

• Atmosphere - tension, Katniss comes out as the standout, someone to watch out for.

Change of Rules - Struggle for power

Music - minor, slow, dramatic - building tension, emotional intensity as music gets louder

Lighting/Colour - bright, natural, warm, green, black, greys, shadowed, - rising of the sun - new day, new victor.

Costume - not important

Angles/Shots/Movement - High shot - Senica has power according to the camera but the dialogue “stop!” contradicts that.

Close-ups - emphasize emotions - defiance, the stubbornness of Katniss - Struggle for Power

• Katniss won’t let them have one victor

• Peeta won’t let them change him.

Atmosphere - happy because Katniss and Peeta took back control, if they died, then they died on their own terms, didn’t lose their humanity.

Aspects = techniques 

Camera shots/angles/movement Colour/Lighting Costume

Music Atmosphere Dialogue Symbols Props.

Reaping scene - Close-ups, Costume, music, lighting.

Task 2 - 1-2 sentences explain what happened in the scene. 

T - title

A - author/director

K - key ideas/aspects

O - outline

In the film ‘ The Hunger Games’ directed by Gary Ross

Techniques are used to engage the viewer and tell the story. In the scene (insert your scene) film aspects such as (tech #1), (tech #2), (tech #3), and (tech #4), are impactful in creating the mood and atmosphere. 

Volcano Eruption | Science

 These past couple of weeks, we have been learning about volcanoes. We also have made replicas of real volcanoes of our choice from around the world. My group has chosen a volcano from the Philippines named the Taal Volcano since it recently erupted. 

Project - Taal volcano 

It is a caldera volcano and is currently active as of now. 

Different types of volcanoes: 

• A caldera forms when a volcano erupts and then collapses, this creates a large depression.  

Types of rock formations that form around the volcano.

• Olivine Basalt which is a type of mineral.

• Andesite

Plan

Make a border around the volcano and make it look like the volcano looks like it’s submerged in water.

We need to make it slightly taller than the bottle we’re going to use while still making it look like just

the very top of the volcano. 

Making the base out of cardboard, we will roughly cut out the shape of the volcano.

Reaction: Elephant's Toothpaste 

Hydrogen Peroxide and Potassium Permanganate -

Turns brown as a chemical reaction between the oxygen and the Potassium Permanganate.

Put warm water in a bottle, then put Potassium Permanganate crystals. Mix. 

Add 1-2 drops of detergent to the mixture. 

Find an open space.

Pour Hydrogen Peroxide in a measuring cylinder, pour till satisfied with the amount.

Then, quickly pour the Hydrogen Peroxide into the bottle, wait for the reaction. 

Workshop 6 - SEXXXY Paragraphs | English

 Scene - 'They don't own me' 

Brainstorm 

• Angles, movement, shots, Over the shoulder 
• Music Diegetic sound
• Lighting/colour, 
• Settings
• Costumes + make-up
• Character/ Dialogue  

Theme - Rich vs Poor, Hope and Rebellion, Struggle for Power

What happened - Peeta and Katniss are having a conversation about how the games might affect them. 

• Angles, movement, shots, Over the shoulder - shows speaker, puts us in listeners P.O.V make us part of the conversation 
• Close up - This shows the emotion of the two-nervous, anxious, mostly Peeta.
• Lighting/Colour - Mood - sad, gloomy - Gray, darks, blacks, dim lighting - works with c/u (close-ups) highlights emotion in faces 
• Dialogue - "I don't want them to change me" "I don't wanna be another piece in their game" If I die, I wanna still be me" 
• Atmosphere - Foreboding, Nervous, Reluctant, Hesitant - Lighting and colour2 - Dialogue 1- Close up 3

SEXXXY Paragraph 

In the scene 'They don't own me', dialogue is used to create a foreboding atmosphere. Katniss and Peeta are having a conversation about how the upcoming games might affect them. This is demonstrated by the quote "I don' want them to change me", another "If I'm gonna die, I still wanna be me" spoken by Peeta. These show that Peeta has a sense that he is going to have to do things that he doesn't want to do like kill others. This makes the audience feel sorry for Peeta because he is likely going to die, or to kill others to stay alive. The director did this to make us believe that Peeta die early and that being a tribute isn't something to celebrate but a loss of personal autonomy. This work well with colour the dark colours of black and greys which add to the foreboding atmosphere. This aspect can be contrasted to when Peeta joins the Career Pack once in the game because they are cold-hearted killers which is what Peeta didn't want to be.     

Workshop 5 : Music | English

Tempo - speed of the music, fast/slow/moderate

Dynamics - volume, how loud or quiet it is

Key - major (happy sound), minor (sad sound)

Rues Death: How is music used to create the atmosphere

depressing/sad/mournful/

minor, tempo-slow, dynamics-quiet, gets louder as Katniss raises her salute and District 11 riots.

What happened - Rue is killed, Katniss tries to give her body the closest to a burial that she can.

Colour/Lighting - White flowers (stands out, a symbol of innocence and purity), natural lighting, greens stand out. Rue never killed anyone, kind, compassionate, victim.

Shots/Angles - medium close-ups (Rue and Katniss) to see their emotions and facial expressions (anguish), high angle (weak and inferior, Rue, an innocent and blameless victim.)

Effect on Viewer - an atmosphere of remorse/intense sadness, as the volume increases it builds the intensity of the emotions, we see emotions are contagious, hope.

Directors Purpose - feel Katniss's emotions at that moment (remorse, anger, helplessness, acceptance, rebellion)

Symbol of 3 finger salute - is a sign of defiance and anger towards the game makers, you will not take my humanity and also a symbol of unification with those who have lost loved ones to the games.

Statement:

Music is used to create an atmosphere of sorrow and remorse in Rue's death scene. In this scene, we see Katniss dealing with the slaughter of her young friend Rue. For example, the tempo is slow, the dynamics are quiet snd the key is minor to reflect the emotional rollercoaster that Katniss is experiencing. Like the music, Katniss moves slowly and methodically to cover Rue's body in white flowers. As she finishes, the music builds in volume, showing the increasing intensity of her anger and grief towards the Capitol. This makes us understand the pain experienced by the families of the tributes when they are killed each year. This was done to enable the viewer to feel the characters' emotions. This worked well with the use of white flowers to symbolise Rue's innocence and purity and the high angle shot making her look weak and vulnerable. Combined with the music we are shown that Rue is a victim of the cruelty of the Capitol.

Acrylic Portrait Painting | Passion Project

For the last few weeks, we have been creating and finishing the projects that we have chosen to create for our passion projects. Our teachers have given us choices on what we wanted to do, they have told us to choose what we are passionate about or are interested in doing. I chose to do Visual Art because I am quite interested in painting and other forms of art. This slide shows and explained what I did for my passion project.

Workshop 4 - Hunger Games | English

Atmosphere - feeling/mood set in scene.

Mood - the way we feel/emotional response.

Location - the area it is set.

1) District 12

What is happening - Katniss is jogging through the District.

Types of colour/lighting - cold colours (more grey undertones), dull colours (nothing stand out, blue/grey shades), natural colours (palette - greens, browns, grey, and black)

Lighting - cold, dull and natural.

Viewer effect (feel) - not welcoming, unpleasant, run-down, dirty, poor.

Directors Purpose - shows how unpleasant it is to live in the districts, underprivileged, good comparison for Capital.

Other techniques 

Setting - dirt roads, houses are derelict, Transport are old fashioned wagons, no electricity.

2) The Capitol

What is happening - The citizens of the Capitol are waiting for the arrival of the tributes.

Types of colour/lighting - cold colours (white undertones), bright artificial lighting (cold, white, artificial, bright), Colour Palette (setting - white/metallics, costumes - bright, vibrant, colourful)

Viewer effect (feel) - these people are privileged, they are celebrating, they are more advanced.

Directors purpose - makes us sympathise with the tributes, they have lots and the districts have none, don't like them because they seem over the top and arrogant.

Other Techniques

Costumes - rich, extravagant, flaunting, over the top.

Settings - rich, modern, technologically advanced, clean, new, and futuristic.

3) Control Room

What is happening - People are manipulating the arena via computer.

Types of colour/lighting - colour palette (blue, white, dark grey), cold shades (blue and white), clinical, bright - especially their white shirts, artificial light/colour - cyan/holographic.

Viewer effect (feel) - makes us feel they are smart but unsafe, scientific.

Directors purpose - make us feel like they are mindless drones, detached from reality.

Other techniques

Costume - white lab coats, feels like an experiment.

Settings - no clutter, lots of techs, only focused on one job.