IEZA Framework

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IEZA framework

The IEZA framework is a 2-dimensional framework that describes the auditory environment of video games. It was developed by Sander Huiberts and Richard van Tol at the Utrecht School of the Arts between 2003 and 2008, and it can be used for the analysis and synthesis (conceptual design) of sound in computer games.

A conceptual framework is an analytical tool with several variations and contexts. It can be applied in different categories of work where an overall picture is needed. It is used to make conceptual distinctions and organize ideas. Strong conceptual frameworks capture something real and do this in a way that is easy to remember and apply.

Utrecht School of the Arts

The HKU University of the Arts Utrecht is a performing arts and visual arts educational institution in Utrecht, Netherlands.

Contents

Description

The IEZA framework uses two dimensions to describe sound in computer games. The first dimension makes a distinction between sound emanating from the fictional game world, such as the footsteps of a game character, and sound coming from outside the fictional game world, such as a musical score. Stockburger (2003) describes this distinction by using the terms diegetic and non-diegetic. The second dimension makes a distinction between sound related to the activity of the game on one hand, and sound related to the setting of the game on the other.

Diegesis is a style of fiction storytelling that presents an interior view of a world in which:

  1. Details about the world itself and the experiences of its characters are revealed explicitly through narrative.
  2. The story is told or recounted, as opposed to shown or enacted.
  3. There is a presumed detachment from the story of both the speaker and the audience.

Four domains are formed by the two dimensions: Interface, Effect, Zone and Affect.

Interface

Sound in the Interface domain expresses what is happening in the game. In many video games this is sound related to activity in the HUD, such as sounds synced to health and status bars, pop-up menus and the score display. Although sound in this domain often follows ICT interface sound design conventions (abstract iconic and non-iconic signs), there are many games that intentionally try to blur the boundaries of Interface and Effect by mimicking the diegetic concept. In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Interface sound instances consist of the skidding, grinding and sliding sounds of skateboards.

In semiotics, a sign is anything that communicates a meaning that is not the sign itself to the interpreter of the sign. The meaning can be intentional such as a word uttered with a specific meaning, or unintentional, such as a symptom being a sign of a particular medical condition. Signs can communicate through any of the senses, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or taste.

<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4</i> video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is a sports video game, the fourth in the Tony Hawk's series. It was developed by Neversoft and was published in 2002 by Activision under the Activision O2 brand for the GameCube, PlayStation, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance. In 2003 it was published for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

Effect

Sound in the Effect domain expresses activity in the game world. Sound usually consists of a mix of one-shot sound events in the game world (either triggered by the player or by the game itself), such as the sound of an explosion, and continuous sound streams, such as the sound of a continuously burning fire. Sound of the Effect category often mimics the realistic behavior of sound in the real world. In many games it is the part of game audio that is dynamically processed using techniques such as real-time volume changes, panning, filtering and acoustics.

Zone

Sound in the Zone domain expresses the setting (for example the geographical, cultural and/or topological setting) of the game world. A zone can be understood as a different spatial setting that contains a finite number of visual and sound objects in the game environment (Stockburger, 2003, p. 6). It might be a whole level in a given game, or part of a set of zones constituting the level. Zone is often designed in such a way that it reflects the consequences of game play on a game's world.

Affect

Sound in the Affect domain expresses the setting (for example the emotional, social and/or cultural setting) of the game. Affect is often designed in such a way (using real time adaptation) that it reflects the emotional status of the game or that it anticipates upcoming events in the game.

Applications of IEZA

The IEZA framework is featured in a book chapter by Ulf Wilhelmsson and Jakob Wallén (2011). The authors combine IEZA with the model for the production of film sound by Walter Murch (1998) and the affordance theory by Gibson (1977). The framework is also used as a conceptual framework for the functioning of game audio in relation to immersion (Huiberts, 2010). Whitehead (n.d.) fuses several frameworks for game audio, amongst the IEZA framework. Conway (2010) used the framework for an analysis of digital football games. IEZA has been evaluated at the Utrecht School of the Arts Adaptive Music Systems Research Group under Jan IJzermans as a design resource in educational, academic and practical settings.

Walter Murch American film editor and sound designer

Walter Scott Murch is an American film editor and sound designer. With a career stretching back to 1969, including work on Apocalypse Now, The Godfather I, II, and III, American Graffiti, The Conversation, and The English Patient, with three Academy Award wins, he has been referred to by Roger Ebert as "the most respected film editor and sound designer in the modern cinema."

Affordance is what the environment offers the individual. James J. Gibson, coined the term in his 1966 book, The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems, and it occurs in many of his earlier essays (e.g.). However, his best-known definition is taken from his seminal 1979 book, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception:

The affordances of the environment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill. The verb to afford is found in the dictionary, the noun affordance is not. I have made it up. I mean by it something that refers to both the environment and the animal in a way that no existing term does. It implies the complementarity of the animal and the environment.

Immersion into virtual reality is a perception of being physically present in a non-physical world. The perception is created by surrounding the user of the VR system in images, sound or other stimuli that provide an engrossing total environment.

See also

Video game music is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to simple melodies of early sound synthesizer technology. These limitations inspired the style of music known as chiptunes, which combines simple melodic styles with more complex patterns or traditional music styles, and became the most popular sound of the first video games.

An audio game is an electronic game played on a device such as a personal computer. It is similar to a video game save that there is audible and tactile feedback but not visual.

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References

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