From Pixel Scenes to One-Shot Cameras: The Evolution of Game Cinematics
Dmitrii Evdokimov has offered a comprehensive breakdown of the evolution of in-game cinematics, walking us through their history from Final Fantasy and Alone in the Dark to modern games and outlining the techniques used in each period.
The Evolution of Cinematics: From Origins to the Modern Day
At the very beginning of the industry's inception, the first developers sought to embed deep narratives into their games, painting epic scenes or touching stories in the players' imaginations through the very simple tools available in game engines at the time. But this did not stop the creators of the new industry. With their perseverance, they laid the foundation for an entire profession with its own techniques and freedom from established rules. Just as hundreds of new cinema authors followed the Lumière brothers, game authors and directors shone after Hironobu Sakaguchi.
My generation has had the unique opportunity to work and move the profession forward during the most turbulent cycle of its development.
Together, we will go through the main techniques of the cinematics profession and conduct a retrospective of its development.
Early Cinematic Techniques: From Pixels to 3D
In the days of Final Fantasy, developers only had pixel graphics, MIDI-polyphony, sound, and text available for storytelling. Even then, they tried to focus the player's attention, turning the game into something resembling a movie. Without realizing it, they began working with the in-game camera as a cameraman works with a camera in film. This is how the first cinematography technique was invented: Camera Lock Control.
The first game in 1987, by taking away control and moving the game window by coordinates, focused the player's attention on enemies, important dialogues, or key points. This technique was further developed with the advent of 3D graphics. Developers also began to use editing techniques, although it is likely that no one considered them from the perspective of cinema at the time.
Camera Development: Lock Control and Camera Blend
Alone in the Dark (1992) is considered the first game with full-fledged cutscenes, but it is interesting to us not for this, but for the first appearance of a technique that would only be developed decades later: Camera blend.
What is it? Camera blend is an imperceptible seam between the video (cutscene) and the in-game camera during gameplay. It is necessary to create a continuous gameplay experience with a smooth immersion into the world and story of the game.
At the beginning of Alone in the Dark, there is a cutscene with in-game 3D objects on 2D sprites. The camera in the cutscene rises higher with each editorial shot, showing us the ominous house and the main character walking into it. After the main character touches the house door, we find ourselves inside with the camera looking down at the player – this is already gameplay. Thanks to the editing and camerawork, this transition is so smooth and imperceptible to the player that an unbroken narrative canvas with control elements is created. Technically, this is often achieved through the smooth interpolation of camera parameters (position, rotation, field of view) from the final state of the cutscene to the initial state of the in-game camera.
In Tomb Raider (1996), this significant technique for the language of cinematics was not used. The cutscenes in the game simply ended and were not connected to the in-game camera in any way, creating a jarring break between elements of the game. However, another technique was developed in this game: Lock Control with camera editing.
Editing and the Influence of Cinematography: The Kuleshov Effect
Tomb Raider was filled with levers and interactive buttons. But how to make this game design element visually interesting?
At the moment of interaction with a lever or object, the in-game camera fixes in the most advantageous angle, taking away control – this is Lock Control, but here a second camera comes into play! It shows the consequences of the interaction in another part of the game map, using editing rules: sequential editing and the Kuleshov effect from the world of cinema.
What is the Kuleshov effect? It is a cinematic technique in which the meaning of a shot depends on which shot follows it. If in cinema this is needed to enhance emotional context, in games it is necessary to enhance the player's interaction with the virtual space.
For example, when a player activates a mechanism, the camera can show their reaction, and then switch to a remote object that has changed thanks to the player's action, creating a clear cause-and-effect relationship and enhancing the feeling of the player's influence on the world. Thus, a new technique for the language of cinematics was formed on a basic cinematic language and with completely different tools.
Dialogue Systems: From Shining Force II to Mass Effect
With the growing ambitions of developers and their desire to create a more cinematic experience, not only individual techniques but also entire systems began to be borrowed from cinema. An example of this is the dialogue system – a set of tools and rules for constructing branching dialogues between characters.
The first full-fledged dialogue system was implemented in Shining Force II. This game was known for its detailed story scenes that were not limited to text windows on the general game field. The dialogue system in Shining Force II was deeply integrated into the game engine. The game often switched to a special narrative mode where sprite characters moved across the screen, rather than just displaying text. In these scenes, which were indistinguishable from gameplay, the camera could change its focus. For example, one of the initial scenes describes a storm: the camera lingers on King Gransil, then shows a guard entering, and finally focuses on details, such as the open door in the Ancient Tower. In another example, a dialogue between the hero Bowie and his friends (Chester and Sarah) unfolds on the main screen, and the camera switches to show their different reactions and movements.
This technique was a key step forward. It allowed for the transmission of not only words but also context, emotions, and character actions. The imitation of cinematic framing, such as "a gust of wind with lightning" or "the shadow the King sees," made the narrative much more dramatic and captivating than in games where dialogue was presented only with text and static portraits. This was not just decoration but a fundamental element of the gaming experience, allowing for the creation of a film-like sensation within the game.
Speaking of films, series as a form of storytelling are the most suitable format for games, especially in the role-playing genre: long dialogues with deep acting, where the viewer is emotionally affected not by the richness of the staging, but by expertly written lines and shot staging with accents on the right words. Series fundamentally use the so-called 180-degree rule – the rule of transferring the camera from one character to another. All cameras filming this dialogue must be located on only one side of this line. This is necessary so that the viewer does not get lost in the space and arrangement of the characters. It seems like a trifle, but this is how our brain perceives the sequence of shots.
Cameras must be located either to the left or to the right of this line, but never cross it, to avoid viewer disorientation. In fact, there are tricks in cinematic language that allow the 180-degree rule to be broken. But that requires a separate article.
Piranha Bytes, with the game Gothic, was one of the first companies that tried to bring this into games. Indeed, for a 3D game, it was necessary to move away from standard sprite portraits and text. Piranha Bytes managed to transfer this technique into the game. Unfortunately, very often they violated the 180-degree rule, and the camera "jumped" across the line of interaction, creating confusion. On the other hand, who cared in 2001 when players were given a full-fledged fantasy story that they could live through, complete with voice acting and shots like in a movie?
The unquestionable peak of the serial approach was reached in the Mass Effect game series. A space opera unfolded before the player, surpassing the scale of well-known science fiction series. Cinematic tools allowed the story of dozens of planets and races to be realized for a fraction of the cost that would have been required for a TV show production.
One of the interesting techniques brought in by the Mass Effect series is the famous walk-off-camera at the end of dialogues. A brilliant solution that allowed for the editing of the exit into gameplay in any situation. In essence, this is a solution that could only appear in cinematics, as in cinema, a shot follows a shot, not a free camera.
In addition to these games, it is worth noting the contribution of Telltale Games, which built entire game series, such as The Walking Dead and Life is Strange, on branching dialogue systems where player choices have serious consequences for the plot and relationships between characters, making the narrative even more interactive and personal.
Prerendered CGI Cutscenes: A Dead End?
As a side note, I want to mention that another path for the development of cinematics was formed – through prerendered CGI cutscenes. I consider Warcraft 3 with its videos between chapters to be the greatest example. An unforgettable gaming experience against the backdrop of the general level of graphics and storytelling tools available at the time of release, especially in strategy games.
But this was a path that led to a break in the game flow. After a beautiful CGI cutscene, the player is always returned to a different game reality, which often caused rejection. A technique that worked once became a road to nowhere. Yes, players waited and still wait for CGI from Blizzard, but it's always just a minute-long spectacle. This approach is outdated in games. Diablo 4 with CGI cutscenes is more likely to cause a feeling of "cringe." Transitions from gameplay are made through fades – a very cheap technique. The videos demonstrate a different camera angle, and this changes the perception. I won't even mention that in such videos, the stylized characters do not resemble their in-game models.
Modern Approaches: Seamless Storytelling and Innovations
The approach of in-game cinematics is another matter. Its development today is being pushed forward by real directors and visionaries, such as Hideo Kojima, Cory Barlog, Neil Druckmann, and Armando Troisi.
The main vector of development for cinematic scenes in games like Death Stranding, God of War (2018), and The Last of Us is the pursuit of seamless storytelling that blurs the boundaries between gameplay and cutscenes. Games have moved from using pre-rendered videos to scenes created in real-time on the game engine, which allowed for continuity and greater player involvement.
The God of War series, in its latest iteration, revolutionized game storytelling by using the concept of the "one-shot camera." From the very beginning to the end of the game, the camera does not make a single "cut," following Kratos and Atreus.
Death Stranding develops along the lines of arthouse cinema, where every shot is filled with symbolism and complex metaphors that can only be brought to life in the game space. Gameplay takes a backseat here.
The Last of Us polished the personal story and facial animation through performance capture to a shine. The level was set so high that the TV series could not achieve the same level of viewer immersion.
Interactive Cinematics and the Influence of VR/AR
In addition to traditional cinematics, interactive cinematics are actively developing, where the player can make decisions or perform actions during cutscenes, influencing their course. This further blurs the boundaries between gameplay and narrative, creating a unique experience. With the advent of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies, boundless opportunities are opening up for new authors and innovators. VR allows the player to be completely immersed in the cinematic space, where they can become a direct participant in the events, and AR can integrate cinematic elements into the real world, creating new forms of interactive storytelling.
The Future of Cinematics
The example of the latest major projects shows that cinematics has become a separate direction in the development of visual art. In combination with game mechanics, it allows for the transmission of a different depth of experience and emotional impact. With each project, new techniques appear, and old ones are cemented. Cinematics is following the path of development that cinema took in the 20th century. But if the development of film language has stopped, the development of cinematics has only just begun, and the emergence of new virtual reality technologies opens up boundless opportunities for new authors and innovators.
In turn, I and my team, which is engaged in the Cinematic direction of The Expanse, carefully try to preserve all the techniques and solutions of the previous generation of developers, but we also apply all our efforts so that The Expanse moves forward the concept of the "one-shot camera" into the future.
