Unit 6.

4 - How Audiences Respond to Media Products

Nicholas Davies

In this section of the essay I will be analysing one of my favorite games,

Splinter Cell Blacklist, a stealth combat action game. Made by one of my
favorite developers Tom Clancy.

The chosen text from my sub-genre I chose to do is the Final Mission in

Splinter Cell Blacklist where Sam Fisher, leader of Fourth Echelon, has
to use the Fifth Freedom and kill the Sectary of Defense to stop Sadiq,
leader of the Engineers terrorist group, getting to classified files that
could tear the government down.

The way this narrative is written is amazing. It all flows really well and
ties into each other smoothly. All the stories in the Splinter Cell Franchise
are closed narratives because there is a beginning and an ending in
each game. However, each of the games follow into each other so that
the Splinter Cell Franchise can be continued. This is attractive to game
players because they can continue to interact with the Splinter Cell
series.

Each mission is huge and takes a fair amount of time to complete and
the way they are designed makes them seem like Hollywood blockbuster
movies. The plot unfolds really well including the cut scenes and
dialogue that continues while you are playing. At this point in the series
Splinter Cell Blacklist, Sam Fisher does not have many enigmas. You
know his life from beginning to this point, he has no mysteries and you
understand him. However, I think it is similar to 007 James Bond.
Where we know all about him but the character is changed by the
missions he is involved with, so the character still learns. So therefore
Sam Fishers character could change in the future during the games
activity.

The Splinter Cell Franchise is a stealth, action, combat game and the
creators want the gamer to feel like they are in that situation where the
shadows are your friend, this provides your cover. The stealth part of the
game also includes using suppressed weapons, not being seen and
therefore not getting caught. The gamer has the opportunity to use loud
weapons and to be seen but this will create more of a challenge
because the alarms will be raised and you will have to face more
enemies. However, some parts of the game you have to either go loud
or silent depending on the operation for example when you are in prison
and you have to to escape, you are forced to not get noticed.
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Nicholas Davies
This allows the player to have a choice in what they do which could have
a consequence. The producer allows the gamer to self-determine the
outcome. This is therefore a challenge to the gamer. For example
Assassins Creed is entirely made of gamers choice whereas the
producers of Splinter Cell have taken away some of the gamers choice
and give control to the player in other areas. Assassins Creed can be
more attractive as a game to the player because there is more freedom
of choice and in fact Splinter Cell is less popular. However, it might be
said that players of this game are devoted enthusiasts.
The game is full of surprises because you dont know whats going to
happen next or what enemies you will have to face. The fear and
mystery and the unknown of the game puts the player on constant edge.

This game gives you the experience of what happens in stealth combat,
raising your heart beat, working puzzles out and executing a plan. You
can become addicted to these games because of that. The game gives
you an insight to what the government might do without you realising
and that whoever protects us from these terror attacks will never be
known, just like in real life.
We desire to engage into these types of games because we are
bombarded with war and we dont actually know what goes on behind
the scenes, we only see the front lines. These games give us an outlet
to be a part of those types of activities.

These form of games increase your adrenalin which increases

hypervigilance. Because of that some people could go outside the
confines of the game and create this in the real world. There is an
argument that some violent games can make some players violent in the
real world. People will copycat in society from watching and playing
these games and will copy the language used. The influence of society
on the game is terrorism and being afraid of people that are from
different religions and ethnicities.

Technological changes compare blacklist to first splinter cell.

Splinter Cell is male dominated but interestingly Grimm, who is a female

special agent, operates on the aircraft, Paladin, watching over the
situation and pointing Sam in the right direction. She also monitors his
health. The female element in this game is a nurturing character which is
traditionally a feminine role. There are two other male characters that
assist Sam. Charlie who is the young technician who builds all the
gadgets and Briggs who is a broad black ex-navy seal soldier. All the
characters are traditional type cast. You cant change any of the
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Nicholas Davies
characters which could detract from your enjoyment of the game. This
game is relatively modern but it has type cast characters in it.
Because of this it might be that female players cant relate to anything
except for Grimm but you play as Sam Fisher who is male.
As time advances and technology progresses the gaming audience
demands better graphics, games, controls, more things to do, more
missions, longer stories, more interaction between the character and the
player, more combat moves and interactions that the character can do
and longer game times.

In the Splinter Cell Franchise you, Sam Fisher, are an assassin and you
have to take out terrorist threats before they become too serious. You
use stealth and a variety of weapons and gadgets to eliminate or knock
out enemies and complete objectives.
Sam Fisher has to leave his personal feelings behind because of what
Kobin did to Sam and his daughter. Kobin ran over Sams daughter with
his car and tried to kill Sam. Early on in Blacklist Sam has to rescue
Kobin and put the past behind him in order to get information from Kobin
about arms dealing to a major terrorist group called The Engineers.
Symbols represent other meanings such as the cross symbolises
religion, the skull symbolises death and the clothing that Sam Fisher and
his team wear is black camo symbolises stealth and black can also
mean death. Black blends in with shadows so using shadows to hide will
give you the element of surprise to your enemies. Symbolic meaning the
game are shadows.

Music is technological and symbolic, depending on how it is made and

what it is made for. The codes and technological side to the game is the
cover systems, stealth, controls, character, weapon and character
customisation and take downs. The prologue of the game starts off with
the terrorist group, unknown to the gamer at the time, storms a millinery
base in Guam and kills the general. The way this is done is in a
camcorder first person point of view to give the experience of watching
what they are doing that soon gets released to the world. Sam Fisher
and his pilot get into a helicopter of which gets taken down by the blast
of the bombs that the terrorist set and discharge. The player then goes
through a tutorial like mission infiltrating the base and taking out the
terrorists. The tutorial goes through different controls and the use of
cover systems. This aids the player either first starting the game or
returning to the franchise.
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Nicholas Davies
Conventions are things that are generally accepted that you always do in
that way. Like combat and stealth. You will always follow the same
pattern.
The general convention of the locations are spars and rough, hard
ground, rough ground, abandoned equipment, destroyed and
abandoned buildings and having to navigating difficult terrain. This all
adds to the expiration of the game.
Codes of the camera angles, at the start of the game you see the point
of view from a camera of the terrorists plot. Then once the actual game
begins you become the character. You determine the destiny of Sam
Fisher. The depth of field images you see enable you to move the
character around the scene, you lead it. Lots of mid shot, hard focus for
intensity to see whats happening next. Unlike romance where its soft
focus and lots of close up to show their facial expressions and emotions.

The game has a lived in state. Most games are clean, shiny and
polished whereas this game isnt. It looks like it has been used which
adds to the gaming experience.
Mise-en-scene is a form of code.
The customs the characters use are specific to each characters role.
Charlie, the technician, wears casual clothing as he doesnt go into the
field, Grimm, the one directing and helping Sam, wears a black casual
suit with two gun holsters just in case something were to happen, Briggs,
ex navy seal, wears black leather outfit for most of the operations that he
participates with Sam in and Sam, the character you play the assassin,
wears all black stealth gear suited for his role to take out terrorists.
The locations that are set in the game vary across the globe depending
on the type of mission, who they need to question or kill and what their
main objective is. Fourth Echelon operate from the Paladin, a giant head
quarters with four large engines. Extremely useful from getting from one
point to another and the fact that its lighter than most jumbo jets gives it
the speed and agility it needs to execute operations. The props that Sam
Fisher uses are a wide range of weaponry, gadgets and outfit upgrades
that can be customized to the players need or want.
The cinematography that the producers used is really good however, not
as good as it should of. The camera shots in the putrescence are good
for the time it was made (2013) showing the right amount of light and
exposure, correct to the scene. Most scenes are dark, gloomy and low
level lighting, given the terrorist attacks are about murdering innocent
people, this sets the tone of the situation and creates a dark mood for
the player. There are a couple of silhouette shots where the light is
placed perfectly for Sam to make a big or surprise entrance.
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Nicholas Davies
The sound that the producers and designers used fits the game
extremely well and is in sync with each moment, action and interaction
made by the player/characters. Being able to hear enemies and CCTV
cameras and any other form of drones and moment clearly giving the
player a full sense of their surroundings and being able to act
accordingly.
The video quality is crisp, clear and in high definition, giving the player a
detailed view of their surroundings enabling them to plan and execute
more efficiently.
The edit cuts and cut scenes flow smoothly with the game and doesnt
brake the characters.
All of these points make the game more enjoyable for the player and
make them want to play it more.

Media influences society and society influences media.

Game(s) Tom Clancys: Splinter Cell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMRH6ZBH9CA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00vE-viGDHQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Clancy's_Splinter_Cell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tHKtGNQWbk
http://media-studies.tki.org.nz/Teaching-media-studies/Media-
concepts/Codes-and-conventions
http://splintercell.wikia.com/wiki/Surveillance_camera
http://www.davidtangness.com/journal/2014/11/6/game-
analysis-guard-ai-in-splinter-cell-blacklist
Final Mission I chose to talk about:
Final Mission - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL9GBFI3NIU
Prologue - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K0GPJMFnaI