3d Essay Question1: Critically examine ONE text (film/image/game/book/composition/net art) depicting London. How are space and time used and depicted in the text? Assassin’s Creed is an open-world action and adventure game, developed by Ubisoft Montreal for single player and Ubisoft Annecy for multiplayer. The game inspired by the novel Alamut by Vladimir Bartol, allows the player to move freely in a virtual world and make their own choices in terms of how and when to approach missions. The games are set in a fictional history of real world events and follow the centuries - old struggle between Assassin’s, who fight for peace with free will, and the Templars who desire peace through control and power. The main story contains the rivalry of those two secret societies and their relation to ancient species, who was destroyed by a massive solar storm. The games real world begins in 2012, when Desmond Miles, a bartender, gets kidnapped by Abstergo Industries, the front of the modern day Templars. As a test subject he is forced to use the “Animus”, a device for simulating genetic memory which allows him to experience his ancestral memories. The whole game through the player is living the live of the original …show more content…
Assassin’s in the past. Therefore every game has two different stories. One about the adventure of the Assassin’s in the past, the other is the story about the person, who is experiencing those adventures through the Animus. All games are linked together through centuries and cover a lot of big moments in history. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is the latest instalment and its story is set in the Victorian era in London. The game starts close to the eras end in 1868, at the height of the industrial revolution. This era has been chosen, because it was not only a time when the world drastically changed for better, it also changed for the worst. This sets another great battle between Assassin’s and Templars. Even though Assassin’s Creed is a fictional game, a huge part of the series is connected to our historical past. It is definitely a goal to make it look as real as possible and historically accurate. I am going to point out, how Ubisoft use the Victorian era as time and space for their new game and how well it is developed. The Victorian era was the time, when Queen Victoria, the first English monarch, reigned in Britain from 1837 until 1901. At this time England has built the greatest empire humanity has ever known. London was the largest city and always under construction. Many of the most famous buildings as the Trafalgar Square, Tower Bridge or the Houses of Parliament were built during this time. To create the look and behaviour of 1868, Assassin Creed Syndicate is showing a city under construction with unfinished buildings and stone walkways. As photography was already invented at this time the developers had access to a huge collection of real footage and pictures to help them recreating London. Although the buildings and their geographical locations are very accurate to the original, the distances in the game are all adjusted and it is clearly faster to go from A to B. One big location in the game is Westminster. With the description: “Our abbey and hospital, where rich come to be cured and the poor come not at all.”, the developers again stay with the original history. Modern medicine was born during Queen Victoria’s reign. Those who could afford the treatment to extend their lives had now the option to do so. As most of the families in the 19th century have been very large and poor, they were struggling with the bad housing conditions. Mostly a whole family shared one room, which causes diseases and as mention before, health care was just accessible for the higher class. At the very beginning in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Charles Darwin introduces a medicine called the Soothing Syrup. Many variations of this Syrup were sold during the Victorian Era. As it was full of morphine it was gladly used, but also easy to overdose. The interaction with historical figures and their impact in our life was part of the game since the beginning. Especially the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin was a big impact to the society this time. People started to think differently and lost the connection to the religion. Therefore, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Karl Marx and Queen Victoria are just a few famous faces you will cross path within the game. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Charles Dickens The Victorian period is also known as a period of rapid change in any area, which affected the city and the whole country.
Although there was no world or civil war going on at this time, it was a time where lower class lived compared to the power of the rich. The industrial revolution was a reason for many workers to move to the city to work many hours in poor conditions, struggling to feed their hungry families. Profits see progress while the workers never sleep. This gave birth to organized crime and street gangs started to be a problem. Although violent crimes were very unusual, food snitching, pickpocketing and poisoning became regular crimes. As the police was struggling with the crime management the number of crooks raised and the situation became
worst. The crimes became bigger and as in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, train robberies have been a major part of the Victorian Era. In 1855, a train which left from London, transporting three boxes of gold in a safe, was robbed. Through cooperation with the staff, the thieves made a copy off the keys and disappeared with 12.000£ worth of gold. A major part of the game is building up a criminal gang with the two characters Jacob and Evie. As the police in the game has to handle the same problems, it is your job as an Assassin to help them with their most wanted criminals and get the loyalty of the city back. The goal is to create your own criminal empire step by step to take out the criminal leader of the Assassin’s rivals, the Templars. The 19th century was also known for the revolution of the women. Women weren’t allowed to vote, do the same work as men or had any representation in the government. Also girls received less education then boys and had no access to universities or higher schools. The Victorian Era was obsessed with prostitution even though women were expected just to have sex with one man, the city was full will fallen women and so was the game. After several claims from feminists, they have been removed from the game even though it has been a very important part and the start of an important movement. Today the Victorian era is seen as a good example of feminism which connects the present to the past. One of the biggest successes during the 19th century was the campaign against the Diseases Acts by British feminists. This legalisation allowed police man to arrest prostitutes and bring them to have regular checks for sexual diseases. British women worked together to stop this illegal series of acts during the 1860s. Towards the end of the Victorian era loads of changes happened, when the Parliament signed the Second Great Reform Act, which allowed male workers to vote in parliamentary elections the first time. Between 1850 and 1860 the average payment for industrial workers was doubled. The developers of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate did a great job representing the Victorian era with all its advantages and disadvantages in the game. Despite all the efforts to make the game as realistic and historical accurate as possible they made the mistake to start the game in 1868. One year before the Second Great Reform Act became effective and changed a lot. Ubisoft wants to present this era as an era of class struggle, which it was before. But at this point most of this problems have subsided in Britain this time. Bibliography Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (standard edition). 2015. PlayStation [Game]. Ubisoft: Montreal Corriea A.R. (2015). “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Story, Characters, and Settings Breakdown”. Available from: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/assassin-s-creed-syndicate-story-characters-and-se/1100-6427217/ [Accessed 2. April 2016] Hughes K. (N.A.) “Gender roles in the 19th century”. Available from: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-century [Accessed 2. April 2016] IGN. (2015). “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate: Real Life vs. In-Game London -IGN First”. IGN. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u96otdmI3To [Accessed 2. April 2016] Kollar P. (2015). “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Review”. Available from: http://www.polygon.com/2015/10/22/9553029/assassins-creed-syndicate-review-xbox-one-ps4-pc [Accessed 2. April 2016] Livingston C. (2015). “Assassin’s Creed: Syndicated Review”. Available from: http://www.pcgamer.com/assassins-creed-syndicate-review/ [Accessed 2. April 2016] Nead L. (2000). “Victorian Babylon: People, Streets and Images in Nineteenth-century London”. U.S.: Singapore Press Remy-Herbert B. (N.A.) “The first women’s movement. Suffragist struggles in the 19th and early 20th centuries”. Available from: http://www.jfki.fu-berlin.de/academics/SummerSchool/Dateien2011/Papers/juncker_remy.pdf [Accessed 2. April 2016] Ubisoft Entertainment. (2006). Assassin’s Creed Website. Available from: http://assassinscreed.ubi.com/en-gb/games/assassins-creed-syndicate/ [Accessed 2. April 2016] Walkowitz J.R. (1980). “Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class and the State”. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press White S. (2015). “Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate review – a historical failure”. The Guardian, 23 October. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/23/assassins-creed-syndicate-review-failure [Accessed 2. April 2016] Williams M. (2015). “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate: What it Takes to Rebuild 1868 London”. Available from: http://www.usgamer.net/articles/assassins-creed-syndicate-what-it-takes-to-rebuild-1868-london [Accessed 2. April 2016]
The movie I chose to write about is called “The Maze Runner” It is about a group of children that get dropped off inside a maze. When they wake up they have no memory of who took them there, or why they are there; They call this place “The Glades.” A new person randomly appears each month to try and pass a test which they are unaware of at the time.
Sex, love, depression, guilt, trust, all are topics presented in this remarkably well written and performed drama. The Flick, a 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning drama by Annie Baker, serves to provide a social commentary which will leave the audience deep in thought well after the curtain closes. Emporia State Universities Production of this masterpiece was a masterpiece in itself, from the stunningly genuine portrayal of the characters of Avery and Rose, to the realism found within the set, every aspect of the production was superb.
Gone with the Wind is a classic fictional love story that depicts life in the old south before, during and after the Civil war. The book was originally written in 1936 by Margret Mitchell, the movie adaptation was released in 1939, directed by Victor Fleming, and staring Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. Ms. Mitchell grew up listening to Civil war stories from confederate veterans. It was reported that they told her everything; everything that is, except that they had lost the war, she found that out when she was 10 years old. Though the book was written 71 years after the Civil War ended, Ms. Mitchell did her research and appears to have drawn inspiration from those childhood stories that she was told. This is apparent in the detailed description of the clothing, houses, and everyday discussions and interactions of the characters throughout the book. Though not all historically correct most of what is in the book is accurate. During the time the movie was released, “damn” was considered to be vulgar and controversial and they used the term “darkies” to describe the slaves.
The Mission: Impossible theme has been around since 1966, it was used for the TV show Mission Impossible. Since then it has been covered by numerous artists, and remade by Larry Mullen, Jr and Adam Clayton from the famous rock band U2 to use in the soundtrack to the Mission: Impossible movies. It’s one of the most recognizable soundtracks pieces in movie history. The Mission: Impossible theme was originally composed by Lalo Schifrin, he has written over 100 pieces for other soundtracks, he is 83 years old. When it was first released it peaked No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, and when the remade version came out it peaked No. 7.
American Sniper is an action movie based on one of the greatest snipers in history and what he experienced through his days as a Navy Seal. It was directed by Clint Eastwood, he also was one of the producers. The movie was released on December 25, 2014. American Sniper was written by Jason Hall. The protagonist of the movie is Chris Kyle who is played by Bradley Cooper. Chris Kyle lives in Texas and really would like to be a cowboy. But he changes his mind and decides to go to the SEALS to become a sniper. The movie takes place in Texas and in Iraq.
Defiance is a movie based on a true story of four Polish Jewish Bielski brothers that were trying to survive from Nazi Army during World War II. The movie started with Hitler ordering his army to kill Poland’s Jewish Citizen. During that time, the Polish Police worked closely with Nazis and they gave the whereabout of Bielski’s location. The Nazis successful found and murdered the parents of Bielski brothers. After this event, the two older brothers, Tuvia and Zus, took the two younger siblings, Aasel and Aron, in Belorussian forest to hide and find a shelter. While they were settling in the forest, they invited several other Jews who are escaping from Nazis and create a little community in the forest. As a result, group norms were formed
Anticipation, suspense, tension, excitement - these words come to mind when we think of the genre, Thriller. According to The Script Lab, thriller’s aim is “to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seats” (Buffam, 2015). In these movies the main character, or the protagonist, is faced with a problem - whether it being a mystery, an escape or a mission. Just like every other genre in the film industry, Thrillers also contain a few sub-genres - but the main focus of every Thriller film out there it will always underline the menace that the hero faces.
The movie Doubt is set in a private Catholic School in 1960s. Sister Aloysius is the principal of the school, and Father Flynn is the clergyman in the church. While the movie deals with some moral dilemmas such as doubt versus certainty, rigidity versus openness and so on, the central theme of the story pivots on accusation on Father Flynn of child molestation. The story has a hanging ending where Father Flynn is proven neither guilty nor proven innocent. Based on the contents of the movie and my own analysis, I believe that certainty plays a bigger role in accusations and I believe that Father Flynn had been falsely blamed and I am also against the rigidity of the society.
The Industrial Revolution was a period of great change; all through out the world people were flocking in hundreds upon thousands out of the villages and into the city. In Britain the population shot up from “10 million in 1750 to 42 million in 1900” ("Crime and Punishment," par 1). Life in these cities was not only new, but also down right difficult to adjust to, people lived in overcrowded housing, disease was everywhere, and working conditions were unsafe. The people who moved into London, and other industrial cities, during the second Industrial Revolution were poor and desperate. As more and more people moved into the already packed and overcrowded cities did the crime rate rise? If it did rise, what was the stimulus that caused the rise in crime?
A genre is a type or category of film (or other work of art) that can be easily identified by specific elements of its plot, setting, mise en scène, character types, or style. (Goodykoontz, 2014) The gangster film is a sub-genre of the broader genre of crime film. A genre main objective is to classify the depiction of entertainment. The genre of my movie is a gangster film. My movie I chose was Scarface. Directed by Brian De Palma.An update of the 1932 film, Scarface (1983) follows gangster Tony Montana and his close friend Manny Ray from their trip on the Cuban Boat Lift for refugees to their arrival in Miami. (Scarface, 1983a)
“The Mission” is based on a true story that occurred around the borderlands of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil in the years 1750’s according to the film and history. The Treaty of Madrid of 1750 with the Spanish and Portuguese caused both havoc and death for the people of the Guarini and the members of the Jesuits. The Jesuits, members of the church, tried to bring Christianity and civilization to the natives while keeping at peace with Spain and Portugal. The Jesuits were the teachers for the natives; Teaching them not only the Christian religion but also civilization. Father Gabriel, a Jesuit, is first introduced in the film when he is showing his respects to a former Jesuit priest killed by the natives. He walks through the South American
The influence of the family is not quite clear. It takes a deeper investigation and reviewing of the film in order to take a side. I believe that family plays a big role in shaping the mind and characters involved in these famous films because we as children are shaped by what we see our parents do, they shape and mold our behavior. In this essay I evaluating my opinion by exploring the main importance of family influence in the characters’ lives in the film: The Godfather.
Ben Affleck, director, does an excellent job with the movie Argo. Being able to find the fear and suspension in every scene is difficult to do, yet Affleck does so seamlessly. Based off a true historical event that happened in 1979, Affleck choses to pick the Iranian Hostage Crisis. He starts out the movie with some background information, so that viewers are able to have some understanding of what has happened and why this is happening. He then merges into a heartbreaking scene, where a mob of Iranians have bombarded their way into the American Embassy. Screaming and shouting at the top of their lungs, the actions happening outside are horrific. Showing the fear in every American’s eyes in the building pulls at every heart
Love is a word that’s been both miss-used and over-used all at once. Romantic movies change our definition of and have a big impact on this definition greatly. There have been many movies and novels made over love, but never like this. “The Notebook” is a love story about unconditional love that two people have for each other. This emotionally, heart touching story will have your eyes blood-shot and burning from you not wanting to blink your eyes. This tremendously wonderful love story will have you not wanting to even miss a millisecond of this heart throbbing film. With many plot twists and many scenes that will have you falling off of your seat and you not having any nails by the end of the movie, this is the movie for you. This emotionally rich film is full of action, laughter, and romance, which is the perfect trio combination. This movie shows us how love can bind us together forever. This film went above and
Industrialization caused population migration from rural areas to urban areas. Cities expanded rapidly to provide homes for workers being employed in the factories. Workers faced harsh conditions everywhere. Living conditions were cramped, unsafe and unclean. Men, women and children labored long hours for minimal wages in dangerous conditions and no job security. The working class was financially and physically unprotected by the government as the middle and upper class grew wealthier and more powerful. (Riane Eisler (2007)).