James Kung - Cinematography in Video Games
Our friend James tells us his thoughts on Cinematography in Video Games
Hello everybody, and welcome! I know we frequently talk about a game’s content on this newsletter, but this week we are going to take a break and talk about visuals! I thought to myself, who better than James Kung, a big photography lad and good friend, to tackle this and discuss some fundamentals regarding visuals in video games!
Let’s take a look :)
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Hi James, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became so involved in photography and cinematography.
Hey guys I am James Kung, a photographer and heavy gamer currently based in Dallas, TX. I started shooting things here and there since my senior year in college and I’ve kinda stuck with it till now as a side hustle so I’d say it’s been around 5 years since I jumped head first into this big creative mess. It has been a pretty fun journey not gonna lie, making things look good and living in that facade is a guilty pleasure of mine lol.
I know you thoroughly enjoyed God of War (2018). Do you have a game in mind that you think really excels when it comes to artistic camera angles?
I’m gonna go with answering this in a method instead of an actual game but if I need to give a good example it would probably still be GOW. I know I may sounds like a broken record at this point but hats off to GOW (2018) for sticking to the one “over the shoulder camera angle”, it provides a more close up look even in combat and it allows them to load things faster so you get that game play straight to cut scene fluidity. This type of method was first introduced I believe was Resident Evil 4 during gameplay, then the Tomb Raider remake. I think it is a good way to let the players get more immersed with the gameplay and eliminate the gap between cutscenes and actual game. Another honorable mention for cutscenes is definitely Bayonetta, her battling cut scenes are just so over the top that’s is really some creative shit.
What sort of technical principles and techniques do you like to see used in video games?
Personally gameplay wise I think it can be pretty difficult for developers to go super creative on the default angles while balancing the area loading speed and the experience so I’ve been fully enjoying the free or over the shoulder angles. Having the photo mode in so many games now definitely was something I think is impress especially in scenematic games like Ghost of Tsushima, I do low key have been thinking a lot about the Silent hill/ Fatal frame 1 like the very obscure and still camera setting in our current graphic setting, I feel like I’d pee my pants way more often than Res 7. There is one particular angle in Fatal Frame 1 that set the camera up like it’s peeking at you in between the walls, that broke my little middle school boy’s sanity like it’s your grandma’s fine china.
Lisa: The Painful is an example of a game that doesn’t necessarily ~look amazing~, but the story really outdoes itself. How do you think overall visuals and camera work contribute to a games overall ‘rating’?
I’ve actually watched the play through of the game! For games like the Painful or visually it’s close neighbor Undertale the story was so important and interesting itself that in this case the visuals might serve as a distraction sometimes, they force you to actually focus on the dialog and let the music and the text lure you into it. I personally think as long as you don’t put in super weird angles or zoom ins and fuck up the graphics, the camera work should be a really good supplement to improve it’s ratings. Unless you went super far and beyond that no one asked for, like Quantum Break ended up shoving an entire Netflix show in our throat, that was a brutal experience for me.
Do you think it's more impactful for games to explore the narrative through cutscenes or defining moments in gameplay?
Oh boy 100% remember how back in the day the cutscenes are the ONLY part in the game where the studios actually put effort in? Like the graphics spikes from shitty to wow FF animation move level , those were the only parts I truly looked forward to when I was a kid gaming lol. That’s literally how we remember things like how it broke our heart in LOU2 or how cool it was in the opening of Far Cry 5, Last of Us AND the beginning scene of The witcher 3. My forever favorite one will always be the opening of Skyrim, “Hey you, you’re finally awake.”
However when it comes to storytelling, the final cutscenes of Death stranding truly GOATED. Hideo Kojima really said I will give you a movie and you are going to love it, and behold, I really did. The way he tells his stories through the cutscenes in that game is just so packed with information and really makes the stories come to life.
What is something that you would like to see more of when it comes to video game visuals?
I WANT REMAKES! Give me remakes of all the old shit *cough*I mean the good old PS1 PS2 graphic classics! Throwing in a rather ambitious though is I would love to see a total revamp on the Harry Potter Series and the LOTR series as well on PS5 engine that would be so amazing *Robot chicken nerd dreaming tone. Personally I also would love to see more creative camera angles on normal dialogue cutscenes in games cause some of them are just close ups of the character which I think is *cough slightly lazy given the bandwidth we have nowadays.
Also, it would be great to see some classic cinematography techniques being used in video games like split lens or dolly or even just compositions like the montage style of Edgar Wrights, Wes Anderson or Guy Richie. I don’t exactly know the style of it but I think as more actual actors are being used in games, it would be nice to see how these directors would produce the cut scenes without the restriction of hardwares!
Here is your time to PLUG! Tell the people what else you are working on and what they should be checking out.
Since a full year of quarantining I’ve started a blog series on showcasing the interiors and stories of Dallas local creatives on how they got through it all and the places they reside in during the whole duration of 2020, it’s called “My Palace in Dallas”! Please check it out if you are interested!
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