Super Arts – Fixed Camera Angles

An implicit but often detrimental trend in games of late is a shift away from fixed camera angles. I understand gameplay often calls for the player to have complete control of the camera, especially in fully 3-D worlds and in open areas, however, it really hinders the ability for a creator to compose the world and control how they want to show you it.

I remember back when I was building a portfolio for art college and my girlfriend shoved me out the way and took control of my guillotine, black card, and cow gum. She took some of my mediocre-at-best attempts at drawings, cut some brilliantly balanced squares in my card and framed my work in a way that made them look – brilliant. I was stunned. She took things from my maybe pile and made them the strongest pieces. It was at this very moment I realised the importance of framing and presentation.

I now see it in everything, and it came to my attention recently with the release of Metal Gear Solid HD collection where you switch between a fixed overhead camera to a free-roaming 3rd person camera. Now, the latter most certainly benefits the player in negotiating a 3D environment, however, it robs the game of the camera angles and moods synonymous with the series which make Metal Gear’s gameplay feel so Metal Geary. The trouble with the original release was that the game environments and scenarios weren’t composed in a way to facilitate the series trademark camera. The two are intertwined – gameplay/scenario structure and camera – and it’s never been done better than in Resident Evil 4, where the camera, environments, and gameplay mechanics were in beautiful unison.

But back to MGS3. I was asked which is better, overhead of 3rd Person. I replied “both.” The fixed camera angles do so well to express a mood and feel of the game. Certain areas feel much more vibrant and atmospheric with this camera mode but actually playing the game can be rather awkward. This is a failing of the developer. Using 3rd person mode only, though, robs the game of its framing. It isn’t being presented to you. The art director has lost authorial control and can’t communicate to you their vision of the world.

Cinematography and composition are art-forms. Imagine early Welles films without those stunning, dark and dramatic shots, where long shadows stab along a cobble-stoned road under an intimidating bridge. They make you feel alone, claustrophobic, and unsettled. By using these tools, the director has the viewer in their hands and the viewer can effectively feel and experience the subtle nuances the director is trying to convey. The artist is trying to communicate with the viewer and the camera angles are part of their vocabulary. It’s an essential and powerful tool that is lost in so many games by a floating camera unrelentingly focused on the back of the protagonist’s head.

A truly great game (speaking very generally) needs passages that are completely framed by the lead artist or cinematographer (if that’s even the term). It is far too powerful, effective, and essential a tool for an artist to lose control of. There are a lot of games that do it well but, more often than not, recently, games get a bit lazy and a little safe, and miss opportunities to really impact the player with creative, clever, and effective use of framing a scene.