Roger Ebert once said the video game medium could never create art, a point that aged like milk. The number of great games with immersive and cinematic stories is now too numerous to count. With serious-minded adaptations of these works becoming more prevalent, especially in TV, is there anything visual storytellers can take from video games to help them improve?
Today we will look at what games have done to enhance the power of their stories. We will then investigate what films can take from video game storytelling to improve in the future.
Game Storytelling
Over the past few decades, gaming has greatly expanded what it is capable of, both technologically and narratively. Take cutscenes for example. Often the default method of gaming story delivery, cutscenes are essentially movie clips rendered in the game’s engine. However, even this crude form of game storytelling has improved thanks to the more serious treatment of plots and characters. Games like the Red Dead Redemption and The Last of Us series have placed great importance on creating well-developed primary and secondary characters to involve us in the story. As well as building plots that are emotionally and viscerally engaging.
Beyond writing better narratives and characters, using background environmental details to tell stories has proven hugely successful. Think of the Dark Souls series. Aside from a handful of cutscenes, these games’ stories are primarily told through background details that you can see and interact with. This allows players to investigate the story at their own pace. Making them feel instrumental in the storytelling process. It also gives the impression of a bigger world existing outside of the narrative.
Of course one of the best ways video games handle story is by linking it to the game’s mechanics. Think of Bioshock and Spec Ops: The Line‘s stories. Which use game objectives and the gamification of war to make searing statements about the gaming industry and medium. Making the medium crucial rather than incidental to the narrative experience.
Films Meet Games
So, is there anything films can learn from video game storytelling? Some short films have already taken inspiration from gaming, using the Unreal Engine (Bioshock and Spec Ops: The Line) to generate their visuals. Additionally, while some debate surrounds it, the use of VR to enhance an artistic experience is something both mediums are exploring. But what can a non-interactive medium take from interactive storytelling beyond CG and viewing peripherals?
Firstly, games prove that films shouldn’t fear using major and minor background elements to tell stories. Usually, films heavily emphasise background story elements to indicate their significance. But video games have shown people are willing to pore over every detail of a story’s world to be immersed. They just need the opportunity to do so. Something that’s very hard with constant cutting, dialogue and directorial decisions that foreground only “crucial” things at the expense of everything else.
Also, there is often debate surrounding movie length, however, games show if you are invested in the world because of good characters and worldbuilding, length won’t matter. David Lean’s epics are great filmic proof of this point.
Finally, films must centre the medium’s possibilities again. Games and TV shows are currently experiencing a golden age because high-profile creations are using each medium’s uniqueness to their advantage. Games have been experimenting with how to engage audiences in interactive stories. TV shows have pushed the possibilities of pictorial long-form bitesize storytelling. Meanwhile, with higher profile movies, examples that focus on the medium’s creative presentation of images and which are unique, complete experiences are shrinking. Many popular recent films are franchise properties that adhere to strict presentation parameters. Experimentation and completeness should be encouraged in all aspects of the film industry.
Conclusion
We have seen a huge rise in the immersive storytelling possibilities of video games over the last few decades. As technology improves we will likely see more films utilising technology associated with games to create and deliver their stories. However, the biggest thing the film industry should learn from gaming’s story-driven success is that there is no substitute for engaging character-driven stories, detailed worlds that enliven the story and its universe and creative decisions that remind audiences of the medium’s importance.
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