Playable Cinematography: Video Games and Visual Language

[@TheDromader]

Valve solution: "Just shine a big light on it"

[@AndrewChumKaser]

To be fair: it's a little contrived yes, but it's at least subtle about it. Most developers would just put in a cutscene zooming in on the thing, or even worse just straight up tell you what to do with text or dialog or a super obvious "look at this thing" marker on your map/screen. A bright light is a very simple, cheap, and yet still believable and organic solution to the problem.

[@BlackHoleOfLove]

Andrew Kaser Your comment reminded me. I remember replaying HL Episode 2 with developer commentaries. After mines, there's a bridge far away, with Combains marching on it. And developers said that in order to stop player, so he listen the dialog and watch the bridge, all that were really needed are couple barrels in front of player. Surprisingly effective it was. P.S. I know, a way too late, but, well, youtube recommended that video only now (

[@ragenFOX]

its a common thing in game and level design though. having a faint source of light to attract your attention, or contrasting color of an object or a ledge to show you the right way.

[@aedof]

This is super common now (no doubt because of how well they did it), but I noticed it in particular with some games I played recently. Doom Eternal fixed a big issue with the 2016 predecessor by utilizing light and color to guide the player through platforming segments and the like. Ori and the Will of the Wisps does this too, making running and flipping through the air extremely smooth. Both The Last of Us games did this too. It's even tied to a world/story element in a sorta meta way. The Fireflies' montra is "When you're lost in the darkness, look for the light", so the games use that quite literally to guide the player. I love neat touches like that, incorporating story/world elements into the moment-to-moment gameplay, which is how it should be.

[@MemoriesLP]

In MGS V, if you make the camera show more your right side, D-dog will switch to the left. Same if you make the camera show more the left part of the screen... D-dog will switch to the right.

[@GigaBoost]

Beyond what's said in this video (haven't watched it all the way through yet): Games use *visuals* a lot to convey information, without necessarily using camera angles. Lighting and colour are probably the primary things used, watching Half Life 2 and Portal (and even more-so about Episode 1-2 and Portal 2) behind the scenes material is amazing because of how well planned everything is in terms of guiding the player through the world. Light and colour guides the player a lot, and can easily be artistic as well.

[@burlong01]

Journey had some amazing cinematography to help lead the character in the right direction. Plus it used color to affect the tone of the areas you were going through.

[@VelisarManea]

Inside has seemingly perfect compositions and transitions between them.

[@MVahag]

There was a cool moment in the Bloodborne Old Hunters DLC, where there was a hunter behind you ready for an ambush, but you could actually see his shadow in front of you if you paid attention.

[@nishitagupte5346]

Furi. Should really look into it. It does a lot of camerawork like the old Metal Gear Solid you highlighted. It perfectly suits the subject of your video.

[@aedof]

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice does incredible work with the camera. Everything in that game feels so seamless. The way the camera is used in standard gameplay and cinematics to make the player feel as though they are observing her from the perspective of the voices is fantastic. She even looks right at the camera and turns her head toward the player at times when responding to the voices or has any kind of interaction. It's the type of storytelling that really utilizes the medium in a unique way.

[@777boman]

This is pushing all my buttons.

[@shoogles_]

Just been through a few of your videos. While they've all been spot-on so far, I learned a ton from this one in particular. Amazing stuff!

[@V_y-r_e]

Bubsy 3D did really interesting things with the camera. They used a very interesting cinematography technique. I think you should check it out.

[@abdullaalsaleh]

Killer7 has what is probably my favorite camerawork in any video game. The fixed cameras are consistently jarring and distorted, especially when combined with the solid colors/shadows and cel-shaded artstyle, which makes the game's creepier elements more potent while also fitting alongside the rest of the game's commitment to experimentation through its gameplay, plot, music, and themes.

[@TobeasJ]

I really liked Spec Ops the Line. The Gameplay was boring, but the story progression is what kept me playing. Loads of generic Military shooters where you play as a hero to save the world from evil terrorists, then this game comes along where you ask "Am I really the Hero here?"

[@RDNAProductions]

Tabe The Line was fantastic. If you're interested in a ludicrously in depth deconstruction of it, I'd recommend Brendan Keogh's 'Killing is Harmless'. He wrote an entire book about one game!

[@juantoledo5248]

Blendo Game's Thirty Flights of Loving: one example of a game with a controllable camera using cuts to a great result. Probably the only one I can think of.

[@Ghostie.]

Damn, You've made some really awesome videos. Sucks I find you after you've been gone so long.

[@joeasher11]

Thanks for making this! I have been looking for a game about video game cinematography! No one really talks about it, and I feel a lot of games deserve more credit for taking the time to get things right. I also love your title, clever! I don't know if anyone mentioned it, but Dino Crisis had amazing shot composition, it could cause stupid deaths and make easy fights impossible at times, but over all was fair and beautiful!

[@pratyushraj2441]

I think Furi of 2016 does this impeccably.

[@ANinjaMeNot]

I thought that this video was really well though out and analytical, there are not many videos that really go in depth with the camera. This is added upon when you examine design choices. All in all well done.

[@mauken-dyn6685]

Metroid Prime 2, within the Sanctuary Fortress. Upon entering a room, the player is in control, but a cutscene plays out where Dark Samus takes out Space Pirates. This is not only a great cinematic shot, but it keeps the player in the game.

[@joshy-noha]

The game's that seemingly take more advantage of cinematic angles, stage composition and lighting are the modern sidescrollers. Games like Inside, Little Nightmares, Replaced, even those Nier Automata sections. Since the structure of the game is so linear, the developers can focus on the stage and how it looks, rather than to account for every possible action and angle the player might view the game through, making these games the best looking around in terms of art desing and cinematic quality outside of actual cinematics. You can always catch visual storytelling in those lush backrounds filled with detail. In big open areas you can see other characters or scenes of interest far away while you are walking on a predetermined path forward, giving you time to make up a story in your head of what's happening. But yeah, it also goes to show that videogames are indeed a very hard medium for conveing certain things while not restricting the player in some ways too.

[@Pshfrk]

Awesome content, I dig it. The use of the SH2 OST was just the cherry on top, automatically clicked sub very hard just when I heard that

[@GoodBloodGames]

Yes, dude. Great work!

[@Theosmeo]

There's a whirly effect on the camera in Phoenix Wright games during trials to make it seem like the trial is being filmed and broadcast. In Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne the camera will give a good view of set pieces while you're on the world map. Ico has some really nice scripted camera angles too. Those are ones off the top of my head, but thanks for bringing this up, I'd never really thought about it before!

[@dillamadukes21]

The uncharted series starting with the second entry used colours to communicate to the player which platforms were interactive/ safe while also indicating which direction the player should be heading. I believe the developers mentioned this in an interview a while back.

[@KickTracks]

Excellent! That's very cool. Thank you for this video.nice

[@tormenbod]

Year Walk combines point-and-click puzzle with first-person perspective to do some kind of cool camera angles. Namely, the main character is always looking northward toward their final destination, even when they're moving south or east or west.

[@pyramideddie7813]

DAT Forest theme for Silent Hill 2. That's it, you've earned yourself a subscriber.

[@Bizargh]

I thought I had spotted or heard of all of Spec Ops: the Line's hidden tricks of genius. And yet, you highlighted one I never consciously noticed. Yet more lyrics to the songs of praise I have for the game!

[@inceptional]

Halo: CE on Xbox (even though it's first person, so the camera isn't a thing here) did use some great environmental design and lighting in places to subtly guide the player on where to go next, which was particularly useful on some of bigger and more open levels where it would be naturally harder to figure out the path you're supposed to take. Most people probably didn't notice it. Also; by their very nature, most good 2D games are great at using the "camera" to guide the player, such as in most platformers where the player is positioned slightly more to one side of the screen than the other as a subtle indication of either which way the player is already moving or which way they should be moving and that additionally helps them see a little more of what's ahead of them than they would if the player was always positioned dead-centre of the screen for example. Or in some of them where if you press up or down on the d-pad the camera adjusts slightly to show you more of the view above or below you in a very nature and intuitive way. Not only that but the 2D nature of the camera usually also directly correlates to the more 2D nature of the gameplay, which means players don't have to worry about the extra dimension of control and complexity that exists by default in most proper 3D games, and I think this is something a lot of game designers could actually learn form, where there could be more example of modern 2.5D games that while using full 3D models etc actually stick to a simpler and more intuitive 2D form of gameplay for the most part, making it easier to actually play the games without having to worry about manually controlling 3D cameras etc. I mean just think about how dynamic and intuitive this 2D game is, in terms of the "camera" and even the player control, as well as the absolute overflow of graphical and visual cues and tricks etc that take something like one example you mentioned in Demon Souls and does cool/neat stuff kinda like that in almost every single level, for example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4LFoaR5bLCoadE The camera intelligently positions itself around Yoshi based on the direction he is moving or looking. The level where you see the chomping things in the background as a way to clearly indicate they are going to attack you in the foreground very shortly. The boss battle that takes place on a small rotating moon set above the atmosphere of a planet and framed by some space/stars on one half of the screen and high altitude clouds on the other, where the entire screen rotates around as the player moves around the planet, creating a great dramatic effect etc. The positioning of certain coins that are used to teach simple gameplay mechanics and player movements just by the way they are aligned and setup next to a certain part of the level, such that you naturally learn to jump for longer and do the flutter jump or realise there's a hidden switch or platform nearby when you see coins that you couldn't reach otherwise. The very subtle difference in the shade of yellow between the normal coins and similar looking coins that actually hide red coins inside them. The exact placement/position of an item next to a slop or ledge or whatever that makes you wonder what might happen if you push it here or carry it there. Also; just the entire art style that is actually a mirror of the basic ideas and setting behind the core story and characters etc and just serves to give the whole experience even more personality, character and soul... Wouldn't it be nice if more 3D games somehow managed to nail the camera/view along with the intuitiveness of the controls (both of the player and the camera) that most 2D games kinda manage by default and the very best ones genuinely nail in such a way that almost no 3D games in existence even come close; unless they're generally first person.

[@azaelandy04]

Really enjoy your videos my man, keep it up.

[@NicoGonzalezEstevez]

Naughty Dog is great at doing this, if you look at the whole intro of The Last of Us with Sarah you'll see that every single moment is full of these tricks and it looks amazing. Great video.

[@dillamadukes21]

+Nico Gonzalez I remember playing through uncharted 2 and noticing how the developers used colour (bright yellow) cues to communicate which ledges and platforms were safe/ available to the player.

[@MetallicMutalisk]

For something completely different, I like how in Supreme Commander the map functions as a minimap by zooming it all the way out. In no other RTS can you zoom that far as far as I know.

[@MrSuperkaji]

The Wargame series does the same thing.

[@losplebesinc]

Great analysis. You just won a subscriber

[@DarkCloudGather]

I was thinking the same thing when I saw the Gears 4 gameplay, it prompts the Y button to look at a point of interest instead of letting the player be the one who explore and be aware.

[@FrMZTsarmiral]

i think another factor that can make the player look at specific places is the dificulty of the game. In the souls series or thief, where not being well aware of your surroundings can have terrible consequences you will always look carefully where you're going and make sure that there's not a trap or enemy in the next corner. I also feel that games that divide walking sections and sections with actual gameplay too obviously can have negative effects on this, like in Uncharted you will always look for hidden items in these sections first and the importance of what your partners are doing or what the environment is trying to tell come in second place.

[@THB543]

I often think about Final Fantasy 7 to 9. Since most of the backgrounds were pre-rendered, they had to use fixed camera views, leading to a variety of really interesting in-game shots - something I kind of miss about that era honestly.

[@pulsetone]

Nujabes on the first second. Literraly the best choice any human being can make at any given time.

[@MrPyroJuice]

Is that the Samurai Champloo OST I can hear in the background?

[@LucasShanker]

I'm interested in why you say cuts don't work for video games like they do for movies. The game Virginia, for example, makes use of jump cuts in a way that adds to the experience. Why do you think cuts work here as opposed to most games?

[@Lerkero]

The Resident Evil games suffered a lot from bad cinematography. Often, when a player walks into a room, the game halts and the camera pans to something sitting around and tells the player "YOU SHOULD BE SCAAAARED" I didn't like those camera pans because it removed the natural sense of fear or worry players should have had while traversing the unknown.

[@TurboButton]

Lerkero Holy shit this. Not just with Resident Evil games, but generally in horror games I find things to be much scarier without the use of cutscenes and whatnot. The Alan Wake 2 original beta concept did look cool but one thing that distracted me loads was the obvious scripting thanks to camera movements and such. If horror games are to have scripted moments so as to scare players at the right time then at the very least there shouldn't be an obvious camera shift to signify that the player is in no real danger. After all, games being interactive means that if you make things like this less obviously scripted, players may feel as if they've just ended up with some bad luck or that they can die at any moment, you get more of a 'oh shit I fucked up' vibe.

[@Iopipimps]

+Turbo Button I think the older fatal frame games did better. Fixed camera made certain spots in the level(especially indoors) creepier + first person to shoot ghosts really cripples the player's spatial awareness an sense of direction.

[@DiscoMouse]

But, some of the best examples of game cinematography are in Resident Evil Remake.

[@martymah9326]

remake you mean 7 right or a remastered version of previous installations?

[@GuyOnAChair]

Lerkero Can't forget Mega Man Legends camera from hell!

[@ashthedood9169]

Subbed simply for this video alone, you remind me a lot of MatthewMatosis with your in depth critique. I'm glad HyperBitHero retweeted this. I always thought Mario Galaxy's camera was amazing in how much of the level it showed you right away, but that Dark Souls point about the hole in the wall was a neat' find & the point about Spec ops'es use of color. [I'm tired of just hearing about that one twist in Spec ops where you see all those graves of the people you killed, blah blah War is tragic, maybe we are the bad guys etc. They are valid points but I was happy to hear it talked about in a different way for once]

[@Marco_diPasquale]

Videogame cinematography is about so much more than just lighting and frame composition; it's how players' thoughts and reactions are coerced and molded to accomplish a specific goal. It's called conveyance, and it's so much more complex and nuanced than conventional film cinematography. Films grab you by the hand and forcibly shove your face into whatever they want you to look at in order to tell a story. Games can't do this. They have to let the player explore on their own while at the same time teaching them how to play as well as subconsciously coercing their attention using a variety of barely noticeable (but influential) factors: level design, lighting, map layout/pacing, enemy placement, item baiting, etc. These are all aspects of conveyance (aka: videogame cinematography).

[@molloz98]

That narative and mechanics video at the end doesn't seem to be available anymore. Why tho?

[@ErikThureson]

Well done!

[@gbacl]

How about the Constatine level in Thief the dark project? It has some cool little tricks like the ones you showed

[@dragon95os]

i just love u man

[@jkrincon]

Great job!

[@pawedziedzic3250]

Where is the "Narrative and Mechanics" video? It appears in the endcard of this video. Did you take it down?

[@Inevitibility23]

In Bloodborne, ladders are usually really, really tall. Not only does climbing a long way convey the feeling of being a small character in a much larger world, but climbing for so long looking at the same wall gets boring. SO, the player is likely to move the camera around to take in the scenery, examining the skyline and the city's depths from a distance, conveying an even stronger feeling of a large world, and the player's smallness in it. And if that wasn't enough, the game is filled with themes shared by the written works of H.P. Lovecraft, who was known for writing about mankind's smallness in the universe. So just by climbing a ladder, Bloodborne makes the player contemplate cosmic horrors and infinite oblivion, as well as the ant-like smallness of our existence, not just as individuals, but as a species. Existential philosophy taught by ladders. Bloodborne, ladies and gentlemen.

[@RDNAProductions]

Great video. I'm curious about your opinion on cutscenes is in relation to such cinematography in games? You seem to lament the fact that without fixed camera angles the opportunity to set up pleasing camera frames is somewhat diminished. Personally I'm a fan of cutscenes because the camera to focus on the details that may get missed in a wider gameplay shot, such as through close-ups and well placed tracking shots that would be a little nauseating if placed during gameplay. Anyway, enough about my thoughts. I'd love to hear your opinion on it, because you seem like quite a knowledgeable guy. Subscribed and looking forward to more videos!

[@a_lethe_ion]

bloodborne shows you the right way at teh first bonfire super easily. not only does the wolf point to it, the lighting does too.

[@hedgehog3180]

Mirror's Edge literally doesn't have a hud and tells you everything through the level design.

[@omegamatsu]

could you add a list of all the films you showed in the intro to the description?

[@TurboButton]

Done.

[@DetectiveIncognito]

Shawshank redemption Hot fuzz M.A.S.H? Taxi Driver? That's what I think from memory

[@DetectiveIncognito]

Fuck me I watch apocalypse now yesterday as well.

[@DetectiveIncognito]

Oh I remember and the viet woman blew up that helicopter as well

[@chunkymilk]

Naughty Dog: ‘paint it yellow’.

[@UjjalBhattacharyaVGE]

God of War does it well.

[@ZealGames]

NUJABES... Nice choice.

[@jaseneffendy17]

Like the Nujabes soundtrack

[@knightchomp1836]

Is some of the music from pokemon?

[@suhfee]

the music is by nujabes

[@isned2000]

Mission 3 of Homeworld does something cool with the camera, when your fleet arrives at the start of the mission the camera is not really framing anything besides empty space and a cutscene or the standard RTS "this the briefing of the situation and your objectives" spiel do not play. The characters only begin to react to what has happened (in this case the genocide of your entire species and destruction of their planet) when you move the camera to see it.

[@BenjerminGaye]

Getting to little big island in Super Mario 64.

[@Chreis_Art]

Nier: Automata did a lot of interesting things with camera angles

[@lipe8669]

famoso esteve aqui!

[@suhfee]

nujabes!

[@Prince_Seven]

*Post apolipstic intensifies*

[@scotty245]

ff15 has the best composition, every screen shot i take i want to make my background

[@ashmasterc]

Uhhhh.... Shadow of the Colossus?

[@cattony123]

I hear nujabes, I like lol

[@24masks]

people beat the hell out of the horse in shadow of the colossus...you only needed to keep the x button pressed. :[

[@walrusman86808]

Surprised you didn't tear I to GOW: asension for not letting you know what the hell is happening ever due to hilariously terrible camera work.

[@mikojovanovic3765]

the proper way to say it is unconscious, not subconscious ;)

[@LonelyGamr]

Do a video on witcher 3's shit and overrated combat. Thanks

[@Cunt143]

Robert Alexander world building and quests were great in that game but the combat is blehhhhhhh

[@Silenthe]

Cinematography has nothing to do with camerawork, composition or editing, it only defines lighting work done in frame/scene.