E3 preview

LUDUS went to e3 yesterday and got to test out a bunch of games as well as peep new tech. Full download on the event in a few days....

Some highlights tee-kay:

1. DJ Hero
2. Indy Games (one by Ian Bogost)
3. Lego DS game
4. virtual reality tech

jacques tati's PLAY TIME

THURSDAY, june 4 at 7:30
in James Bridges Theater

PLAY TIME (1967)

124 min
directed by jacques tati
writers: tati, Jacques Lagrange
cast: tati, Barbara Dennek
co-sponsored with Melnitz Movies
70mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive
2002 restored version


LUDUS and Melnitz Movies are proud to present Jacques Tati’s masterpiece PLAYTIME, screened in its original and stunning 70mm format. Tati’s comedy about confusion in the age of technology provides one of the greatest gamelike viewing experiences. With its super large frame packed with inventiveness, the film gives viewers a dense perceptual play and an array of audiovisual gags, encouraging us to participate in a playtime of moviegoing.

[Film notes by Daniel Steinhart]


“A film from another planet.” --François Truffaut
"Perhaps the greatest film ever made." -Jonathan Rosenbaum, CHICAGO READER
"A peculiar, mysterious, magical film." -Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
"With PLAYTIME's monumental decor and complex choreographed gags taking place simultaneously in a constantly mutating space, Tati explored the possibilities of 70mm as they had never been utilized before." -Elliot Stein, VILLAGE VOICE

MAY 20TH RESIDENT EVIL: DEGENERATION

may 20 (new date!!!)
RESIDENT EVIL: DEGENERATION
dir. Makato Kamiya
[2008, 97 min]
Melnitz Hall room 2534, The Design Room
Wednesday 5pm

Makato Kamiya’s 2008 Resident Evil: Degeneration exists as an odd hybrid of video game and film. Entirely computer generated, it visually resembles a cut scene of epic proportions, yet it has a comprehensive narrative that develops the video game franchise’s characters, and an eerie presence that asks the viewer to non-interactively experience survival horror, qualities the preceding live-action film trilogy notably lack. A virus outbreak following an airplane disaster requires zombie-killer Leon Kennedy’s steady trigger finger and lighting quick reflexes, as the government’s collusion with the villainous Umbrella Corporation is revealed. Notably, Degeneration is itself a zombie, reanimating, reinvigorating and crossbreeding known stories, games, and media.

Film notes by Harrison Gish

our film series continues with: THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS

may 6

THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS

dirs. Lars von Trier, Jørgen Leth

[2003, 90 min]

Melnitz Hall room 2534, The Design Room

Wednesday 5pm

In this documentary, the most game-like of movie directors, Lars von Trier, challenges his former professor, veteran filmmaker Jørgen Leth, to remake Leth’s 1967 cult short THE PERFECT HUMAN five times. For each remake, the petulant von Trier enforces a series of obstructions that force Leth to navigate the difficulties of rule-bound filmmaking as he traverses the globe. Nutty and combative, this meta-film presents the filmmaking process as a series of game-like moves and counter moves.

our film series begins today with: eXistenZ

april 29
Melnitz Hall room 2534, The Design Room
Wednesday 5pm

eXistenZ
with: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe
Dir. David Cronenberg
[1999, 97min]

"Superstar computer game designer Allegra Geller has just invented 'eXistenZ' - a new game designed to sweep away all barriers between reality and fantasy, aided by a 'bioport' connecting the game to a player's nervous system. When Allegra arrives to present the game to the bosses of a large company, some of those present are attacked by a rival faction..." -Film Index International

LUDUS article in the DAILY BRUIN

UCLA'S newspaper, The Daily Bruin wrote a piece on LUDUS yesterday...

WEDNESDAY APRIL 22: Tag-Team Game Industry Talk with Dooma Wendschuh and John Ballantyne

THIS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22ND
Location: Melnitz Hall 2534, The Design Room
Time: 5pm - 6ish or whenever they stop talking
Who: everyone and anyone who wants to learn about the industry from different perspectives.


LUDUS PRESENTS:
Tag-Team Game Industry Talk

Dooma Wendschuh from Sekretagent Productions &
John Ballantyne from EA

John Ballantyne (Electronic Arts) and Dooma Wendschuh (sekretagent Productions) are industry leaders in the video game business. They will be discussing the creative and technical processes behind the most collaborative of all art forms - the making of video games. Their talk will be in three parts: first, an introduction to the video game business, then they will outline the game making process, followed by how to find work in the game industry or get your own game made. Both John and Dooma will be available after their presentation for a Q&A session. This event will be informative and entertaining, and should not be missed!!!

More about Dooma and his company, sekretagent producitons:

"sekretagent Productions creates and/or produces the characters, worlds and stories behind some of the best selling and most critically acclaimed filmed and interactive entertainment on earth. In the business of imagining and producing new, original IP, sekretagent works with the world's leading publishers and studios, providing content creation, screenwriting, development and production services in the film, internet, and video game industries. The Los Angeles-based company was founded by Corey May and Dooma Wendschuh upon their graduation from the University of Southern California’s Peter Stark Producing Program in 2001.Prior to attending USC, May and Wendschuh graduated with honors from Harvard and Princeton universities respectively.

sekretagent is best known for its many successes in the video game industries. The company has helped create several major video games including ARMY OF TWO (2008) ASSASSIN'S CREED (2007), PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE TWO THRONES (2005), BATTLES OF PRINCE OF PERSIA (2005), STOLEN (2005), and PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE WARRIOR WITHIN (2004)." From the sekretagent website.


John's position at EA: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineer

Role Overview
"An Artificial Intelligence (AI) Programmer gives the computer game apparent intelligence and codes the non-player entities of a game (path finding, locomotion, collision detection, state machines, game logic, player flocking/cohesion, and animation). AI is a heavily researched and broad topic. It branches into the areas of robotics, biology, and psychology. A beginning AI programmer must study basic algorithms for games and concepts behind AI, such as path finding, patterns, and decision trees. When an AI Programmer understand these concepts, they can move on to more advanced AI concepts, such as Deterministic Automata, Finite State Machines, Neural Networks, Genetic Algorithms, Fuzzy State Logic, and A-Life, ensuring that EA researches and implements cutting-edge AI techniques. An AI Programmer must ensure the development and maintenance of advanced AI tools, features, and pipelines." From the EA website

SPRING 2009 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, Wednesdays at 5pm

Our speaker and film series begins!!!!! All events are (somehow) linked to video games, or are intrinsically game-like in nature.

All LUDUS sponsored speaker and film events are at on WEDNESDAYS at 5pm, Melnitz Hall room 2534, The Design Room:


april 15
Producing Television About Video Games:
JOEL RUBIN
former associate producer at G4TV


april 22
Tag-Team Game Industry Talk by:
Dooma Wendschuh from Sekretagent Productions &
John Ballantyne from EA

Location: Melnitz Hall 2534, The Design Room
Time: 5pm - 6ish or whenever they stop talking
Who: everyone and anyone who wants to learn about the industry from a couple of different perspectives.

As real life friends both working at gaming companies in los angeles, Dooma and John will BRING IT to the ucla community, throwing down not only their game industry knowledge and knowhow, but doing it with style. Topics likely to be covered, either in their presentation or in the Q&A: writing for films and video games, game design, game development, technical aspects of game development, playing games, first person shooter games, co-op games... This is not an event to miss!


april 29
eXistenZ
with: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe
dir. David Cronenberg
[1999, 97min]
Melnitz Hall room 2534, The Design Room
Wednesday 5pm

"Superstar computer game designer Allegra Geller has just invented 'eXistenZ' - a new game designed to sweep away all barriers between reality and fantasy, aided by a 'bioport' connecting the game to a player's nervous system. When Allegra arrives to present the game to the bosses of a large company, some of those present are attacked by a rival faction..." -Film Index International

may 6

THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS

dirs. Lars von Trier, Jørgen Leth

[2003, 90 min]

Melnitz Hall room 2534, The Design Room

Wednesday 5pm

In this documentary, the most game-like of movie directors, Lars von Trier, challenges his former professor, veteran filmmaker Jørgen Leth, to remake Leth’s 1967 cult short THE PERFECT HUMAN five times. For each remake, the petulant von Trier enforces a series of obstructions that force Leth to navigate the difficulties of rule-bound filmmaking as he traverses the globe. Nutty and combative, this meta-film presents the filmmaking process as a series of game-like moves and counter moves.

may 20 (new date!!!)
RESIDENT EVIL: DEGENERATION
dir. Makato Kamiya
[2008, 97 min]
Melnitz Hall room 2534, The Design Room
Wednesday 5pm

Makato Kamiya’s 2008 Resident Evil: Degeneration exists as an odd hybrid of video game and film. Entirely computer generated, it visually resembles a cut scene of epic proportions, yet it has a comprehensive narrative that develops the video game franchise’s characters, and an eerie presence that asks the viewer to non-interactively experience survival horror, qualities the preceding live-action film trilogy notably lack. A virus outbreak following an airplane disaster requires zombie-killer Leon Kennedy’s steady trigger finger and lighting quick reflexes, as the government’s collusion with the villainous Umbrella Corporation is revealed. Notably, Degeneration is itself a zombie, reanimating, reinvigorating and crossbreeding known stories, games, and media.

Film notes by Harrison Gish


june 4
THURSDAY, 7:30 in James Bridges Theater
PLAYTIME
dir. Jacques Tati
[70mm print -2002 restored version-, 1967, 124min]
co-sponsored with Melnitz Movies

LUDUS and Melnitz Movies are proud to present Jacques Tati’s masterpiece PLAYTIME, screened in its original and stunning 70mm format. Tati’s comedy about confusion in the age of technology provides one of the greatest gamelike viewing experiences. With its super large frame packed with inventiveness, the film gives viewers a dense perceptual play and an array of audiovisual gags, encouraging us to participate in a playtime of moviegoing. “A film from another planet.” --François Truffaut

Film notes by Daniel Steinhart

From Indy to Army at the GDC

March 23-27 in San Fran.

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the only place in the world where having A.D.D. is appreciated (and encouraged). The barrage of excitement is fantastic as you are constantly inundated with awesome games, tech, and the murmur of game talk. Its the kind of place you want to put a mall-kid-leash on the friend you came in with, since there is always something flashier, more colorful, innovative, or alluring to draw you away from the first flashy thing.

On March 23-27, the Moscone center in San Fran morphed into the gaming capital of the world. On the EXPO floor, the schizophrenic glitches between networking and play replicate the organized chaos of a pinball machine. Every game publisher, developer, video game scholar, and industry nerd could be found somewhere inside the delightful cacophony of games and light. Time to play some games!

The United States Army (TCM Gaming) had a couple guys in fatigues on the floor pitching their newest simulation wares. LUDUS played one of their training FPS games, but died a few times –we couldn’t figure out if the insurgents were are friends or foe (fail!). With our arms crossed over our badges reading “UCLA” the army dude elucidated their primary objective at the GDC. “Our charter,” reads the Army’s gaming pamphlet, “is to acquire commercial as well as government off-the-shelf products to cut costs and reduce development time.” Essentially, their goal is to find consumer games that can quickly convert into training tools for combat units. Gives a whole new feeling to “headshot” doesn’t it?



The OptiTrack/ARENA folks had a super nice showcase of their mocap gear. One full body and one face motion (shown in photos) –both under 5-kay. The break dancing full body guy really took his job seriously, and gave the other mocap cpny’s something to aspire to: better actors. The woman who was displaying the facial software was also extremely expressive. There were other companies showing off their mocaps, but they weren’t as exciting to watch. Technically speaking, we’re not sure what was better gear, but if judging solely on presentation: the ARENA guys (and girl) win, hands down.

Ian Dallas’ game, The Unfinished Swan (not shown), OWNS simple & elegant. Built upon a single core mechanic, the game needs little instruction in order to play (the guy put the controller in my hand and said “play”). Done and done. Dallas himself wasn’t around when we got to his booth, but we did find out a few things about him: he’s a second year MFA student in Tracy Fullerton’s lab at USC, and he made a rad game. With games like Flow and the Unfinished Swan emerging out of the EA/USC/Fullerton lab, it seems to be a pattern that students like Dallas and others are rocking really unique indy games.

LUDUS can’t wait to get back to L.A. to connect with these cross-town masterminds. Potential speakers? Anyone?

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

LUDUS is a graduate student game-theorizing organization conceived of by students in the cinema and media studies program at ucla. in order to broaden the scope of our own gaming research, LUDUS engages with academics in the fields of ludology, semiology, film theory, and narratology, as well as persons who work within the gaming industry.


LUDUS is:

kristy norindr PRESIDENT slash MASTERMIND
harrison gish VICE PRESIDENT
lindsay giggey DIRECTOR OF AWESOME slash LOGISTICS
andrew hall


a huge thanks to professor steve mamber for all his help and ongoing support of LUDUS

Questions, comments or booking suggestions for future speaker or film series, please email kristy.