Visual component Continued

Visual Component

Visual Process

My process to produce the concept piece was to search in the Eastern culture and tradition in order to find the positive visual stereotypes.

As well as searching withing the Western culture and tradition for the positive Arab stereotypes.   

                           

As well as searching withing the Western culture and tradition for the positive Arab stereotypes.   

Behavior, mannerism, infliction : character through culture

"Unfortunately, the player’s character, Altair, fails to convey the Middle-Eastern culture or behaviour. To the mere observer, he is monk in disguise. His actions, behaviors, mannerisms, complexion,
and clean-shaved face portray him as an all-American hero. In fact, his accent betrays
him the most, and one soon starts to wonder if such a design decision was deliberate,
perhaps to gain acceptance amongst the Western audience in the hopes of identifying
themselves with the protagonist."

Assassin’s Creed: A Multi-Cultural Read. p.25

The role of culture in reading and playing a game

"the role of culture, previous experience and knowledge play in reading and playing a game"


"As J. Clifford described in his article on Ethnographic authority, “recent literary theory suggests that the ability of a text to make sense in a coherent way depends less on the willed intentions of an
originating author than on the creativity of the reader […] One may also read against the
grain of the texts’ dominant voice, seeking out other, half hidden authorities, reinterpreting
the descriptions, texts, and quotations gathered together by the writer”
(Clifford, 2003, 133). Although Clifford was speaking of ethnography, one can see the
parallel in describing gaming experiences through a one authoritative perspective. This
review breaks the norm to make evident the heteroglossia–that characterizes players
uptake of games and their gaming experience."



Assassin’s Creed: A Multi-Cultural Read. p.28-29

Injecting bad Arabs in Hollywood

"It’s the same reason that, in “Gladiator”, the slave-traders who kidnap Russell Crowe are Arabs. I mean, this is ridiculous; I mean why does Hollywood inject Arabs, scenes of Arabs and/or slurs demeaning Arabs in movies that have nothing to do with the Middle East. So, you’re sitting like I am, for example, watching “Back to the Future” about a mad scientist. And, yet, early on in the film we see these ugly, inept Libyans with machine guns, in a parking lot trying to gun down the protagonists. I mean, why? This movie wasn’t about the future. It was the same old stereotyping from the past."


Jacque Shaheen

Reel Bad Arabs - How Hollywood Vilifies a People

http://www.reelbadarabs.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVoSZk_fvo

Arab Women in Hollywood

"And the same goes for Hollywood’s view of Arab women. The Arab woman today is bright, intelligent. She’s someone who is exceeding in all professions.

And yet this reality, still, is being denied us on silver screens. The highly sexualized belly dancer has been with us from the beginning of Hollywood’s history. Inspired by early images of the orient, as the place of exoticism, intrigue and passion.

But in recent years, this image has dramatically changed. The Arab woman is now projected as a bomber, a terrorist. Added to this image is what I call “bundles in black” – veiled women, in the background, in the shadows - submissive. It seems the more Arab women advance, the more Hollywood keeps them locked in the past."


Jacque Shaheen

Reel Bad Arabs - How Hollywood Vilifies a People

http://www.reelbadarabs.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVoSZk_fvo

Arabland: from Orientalism to Hollywood

" We inherited the Arab image primarily from Europeans in the early days, maybe
150 years, 200 years ago.  The British and the French who traveled to the Middle East and those who
didn’t travel to the Middle East conjured up these images of the Arab as the oriental other - the
travel writers, the artists who fabricated these images and who were very successful as a matter of
fact. And these images were transmitted and inherited by us. We took them, we embellished them
and here they are."

Jacque Shaheen

Reel Bad Arabs - How Hollywood Vilifies a People

http://www.reelbadarabs.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVoSZk_fvo

Jade's response

"Altair was played by an American born actor of Middle-Eastern
origin. His name is Phil Shahbaz. The reason that Altair speaks with
an American accent is related to the fact that it's not really Altair
talking; the whole experience is being processed by Desmond (a
modern American guy) through the Animus. Desmond is trying to
relive Altair's life but is building on his own experience."


Jade Raymond ; Canadian video game executive and a Managing Director at Ubisoft Toronto

"Several reviews have discussed this issue. For instance,

myp3’s review (www.myps3.com.au/ GuideDetail.aspx?id=38) criticized Altair's voiceacting,

stating that it was blatantly American, when it should have been Middle-Eastern.

The accent was not the only issue of criticism when it comes to Altair's Americanization,

but his choice of words in dialogue beamed of American culture, as many game-players

have stated."

Assassin’s Creed: A Multi-Cultural Read. p.25

Remediation : Games as an extension of film

"We also think gamers want more then another Halo or GTA clone.
Maybe there is room for games to bring to life the kinds of settings
that movies have made so memorable.(Movies like Braveheart or
Kingdom of Heaven both share this epic feeling, we are trying to
achieve in Assassins’ Creed.)."

Jade Raymond ; Canadian video game executive and a Managing Director at Ubisoft Toronto

Culture and Game experience

"the experience of playing a video game, like Assassin’s Creed, is a personal
experience shaped through one’s emotional values, expectations, knowledge, and
attitudes as influenced by culture."


"While game studies and reviews attempt to discuss games and
their play experiences through a single authoritative lens, we argue that the play
experience of a game is highly variable and is shaped by the players’ culture, past
experience, and attitudes."

"In this review, we focus on the game-play experience as a function of cultural
background."


"While game mechanics and systems
are important, we believe that architectural design, character design, and back-story play
important roles in engagement and shaping the game play experience within games, such
as Assassins’ Creed, that rely heavily on exploration of space and narrative as part of
their ‘fun’ or engagement aspect (as discussed by Hunicke et al.’s aesthetics model
(2004) and Jenkins (2004))"


Assassin’s Creed: A Multi-Cultural Read. p.1-4