Tag: games

SOC’s Media that Matter series kicks off with Thank You for Playing

Every semester, SOC’s Media that Matter film series highlights social issues as captured on the screen, from race issues in America to the ethics of food. It’s a very AU film series in the best way, and often, the screening includes a discussion with the filmmakers. Last semester, the series included a screening of Best … Continue reading “SOC’s Media that Matter series kicks off with Thank You for Playing”

Every semester, SOC’s Media that Matter film series highlights social issues as captured on the screen, from race issues in America to the ethics of food. It’s a very AU film series in the best way, and often, the screening includes a discussion with the filmmakers. Last semester, the series included a screening of Best Picture winner Spotlight and an interview with then-Boston Globe editor Martin Barton.

Media that Matter starts again this Wednesday with a screening of Thank You for Playing, a documentary about the development of the video game That Dragon, Cancer – an autobiographical game by Amy and Ryan Green about caring for their infant, who was diagnosed with cancer. That Dragon, Cancer is a raw, emotional experience to play, and Thank You for Playing looks at the people who chose to tell their story through an unexpected medium.

The screening begins at 6pm on Wednesday, September 14th, in the McKinley Building’s Forman Theater; the film will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers led by AU Game Lab’s Lindsay Grace.

Games on Film invades National Harbor’s MAGFest this weekend

In DC, film festivals turn up in the oddest places. This city hosts so many non-profits and interest organizations that you can usually find special screenings for any topic or culture, as we’ve covered in the past. For 2016, you can add gaming to that list: as part of the annual Music and Games Festival … Continue reading “Games on Film invades National Harbor’s MAGFest this weekend”

In DC, film festivals turn up in the oddest places. This city hosts so many non-profits and interest organizations that you can usually find special screenings for any topic or culture, as we’ve covered in the past. For 2016, you can add gaming to that list: as part of the annual Music and Games Festival in National Harbor, Maryland, MAGFest is hosting Games on Film, a selection of 15 films and 40 shorts about games and gaming culture.

Over the four-day event, which starts tomorrow, Games on Film will screen a mix of feature films and documentaries about gaming. We’ll admit that the feature film selection seems less interesting (most are fan adaptations of popular games), but the documentaries caught our attention. Of particular interest are Thank You for Playing, about the production of a game based on a true story of childhood cancer, and The Power of Glove, a tongue-in-cheek look at the infamously poor Nintendo glove controller.

There’s also quite a few about the culture around gaming and game conventions, especially costuming Keep an eye out for Shades of Cosplay: A Black Cosplayer Documentary.

MAGFest isn’t an inexpensive event – $75 for the weekend or $45 per day – so we’re not sure we can recommend going entirely for the film lineup. But if you’re interested in gaming anyway (board games too!), you should stop in at this up-and-coming festival.

Interactive Media: Flash, pt. 1 – Introduction

If you’ve been on the internet at all in the past five years, you’ve used flash. Most of the time it manifests itself as the Flash Player, a plugin for your browser which allows you to view Flash content online. But what if you’re not just interested in viewing Flash content, what if you’re interested … Continue reading “Interactive Media: Flash, pt. 1 – Introduction”

If you’ve been on the internet at all in the past five years, you’ve used flash. Most of the time it manifests itself as the Flash Player, a plugin for your browser which allows you to view Flash content online.

But what if you’re not just interested in viewing Flash content, what if you’re interested in creating it? If that’s the case you’re in the right place.

For starters it’s important to understand what Flash is and what it can do.

Flash is a development environment acquired by Adobe when they bought Macromedia. It allows users to do two distinct things: animate and create interactive media (usually games). Flash is also the basis for many popular websites, YouTube, most notably.

But there are a lot of other websites out there that feature Flash content. For animation it’s worth looking at Newgrounds. There is a HUGE amount of Flash animation on this site and most of it is fairly well done.

As for games the best place to see a lot of excellent Flash games is Addicting Games.

Stay tuned to learn how you can start churning out some animation or Flash games.