Last night I was playing Silent Hill 2 and experimenting with the follow-cam / the normal cinematic camera-angles. There was definitely a difference in *feel* between the cinematic cam where it would often be placed above and infront of the player (so they''d be walking into the camera and the unknown). Whereas when the camera was following the player it felt more like an ordinary game, and had a different feel. (I particularly liked a "twisted" effect that the camera did occasionally where it was rotated slightly on the y axis.) -Comments?

Last night I watched "Event Horizon" - an Aliens-like horror movie. I think the camera is most effective when it has it''s own mind, when it "knows" and "tells" things. By doing something as simple as zooming, on a door for instance, it threatens and terrifies. I''d really like to see a game camera that is aware of what happens in the game, aware even of things the player doesn''t know, and subtly tells things to the player - or tries to deceive him sometimes and play tricks on him.

event horizon starts off as such a mad movie, completely freaky, then it gets a lil bit dumb

I agree, but Event Horizon''s quality isn''t the point.

When you''re dealing with camera angles to convey mood, then it''s a matter of pure cinematography. There are endless resources and reference works out there, and I''m sure there are some good website dissertations on the topic.

But be careful you don''t lose track of the fact that it''s a video game, after all. I know some people liked the camera in the Resident Evil games, but i for one hated not being able to see what my character sees. Expecially in a survival/horror game, I think an important part of character immersion is seeing and feeling what the character sees and feels.

For me, the RE games are the bastard child of playing an action game and watching a horror movie. I''m never fully into the action, because the camera angles mess up my aim, my running, and sense of space relationships. I''m never really into the horrorshow, because the character is never oblivious, and when there''s a change in music or camera angle, I tense up, and the character actually becomes more cautious. Both genres are betrayed by their fusion, and the end result is unsatisfying.

This is definitely the time to read the book, "How to Shoot a Movie Story" It explains what, how, why, when and where of the basics of camera angle, shot selection, everything you need to have a good POV/Shot/Angle_On vocabulary.

Addy

The problem with horror game camera shots is they try to look cinamatic. In a movie, the director points the camera at exactly what he/she wants you to see, and can change the position and direction of the camera at will. Horror games usually have one screen shot that the player has to poke around in. If a game changed shots as often as a movie, the player would get distoriented.

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Original post by Onemind
The problem with horror game camera shots is they try to look cinamatic. In a movie, the director points the camera at exactly what he/she wants you to see, and can change the position and direction of the camera at will. Horror games usually have one screen shot that the player has to poke around in. If a game changed shots as often as a movie, the player would get distoriented.

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The problem is that when you use a word like "cinematic" you are opening up a whole can of worms because it can mean a whole bunch of things to a whole bunch of people in a whole bunch of applied methods.

What really goes on is that pointing the camera is not really enough, distance to object, composition in frame, size of object in composition in frame, relative and absolute perspective or multiple perspective, a whole bunch of things are working (or not, depending on scene design and position of the camera, which is more that just what direction you point it).

What is really going on with a camera is the basic principle that "The camera is the eye" no matter what you are shooting, and what the eye sees is what the mind percieves. Thus, the perception you create with distance to principal object, scenic objects (both static and active) in-scene form a perception people often label or mistake as cinematic this or that.

So, knowing how perceptions are formed visually with camera as the eye (the direct translator to the visual as perception in the mind) is where you want to pay attention to. The principles for the establishment of shot criteria are just as consistent from still photography to master title or establishing shots in motion picture imagery to dynamic camera movment in cinema verite or a camera placement programmed into a graphics engine.

Addy

What about a survial horror game where your seeing everything through survallence cameras? You could be giving orders to the character inside a military base or whatever. Each room or area would 1 or more fixed camera angles to view through. Cameras would auto switch and you can switch to any camera you choose. I think it could make for a very interesting and scary effect. Imagine if in one room the camera has fallen down and your watching everything rotated 90 degree and at floor level. Or a character has to walk down a long hall and the player can only see from the direction the character is walking. Causing the character obscure most of the hall preventing you from seeing the lunatic creeping towards them until its almost to late.



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Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades
Current Design project
Chaos Factor Design Document

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Original post by TechnoGoth
What about a survial horror game where your seeing everything through survallence cameras? You could be giving orders to the character inside a military base or whatever. Each room or area would 1 or more fixed camera angles to view through. Cameras would auto switch and you can switch to any camera you choose. I think it could make for a very interesting and scary effect. Imagine if in one room the camera has fallen down and your watching everything rotated 90 degree and at floor level. Or a character has to walk down a long hall and the player can only see from the direction the character is walking. Causing the character obscure most of the hall preventing you from seeing the lunatic creeping towards them until its almost to late.



-----------------------------------------------------
Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades
Current Design project
<A HREF="http://technogoth-r.tripod.com/chaosfactor.htm">Chaos Factor Design Document</A>

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It''d certainly be a cool idea - but I''d worry about the playability aspect of a game as seem through a fallen camera at a presumably arbitrary angle (for example pressing up making you go down and left in the view....ugh!) - as for what should happen when the player blunders into the camera - could be rather nausiating!

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Original post by TechnoGoth
What about a survial horror game where your seeing everything through survallence cameras?

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Then that is a chose POV to give you a particularly intended perception of the exposited content.

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You could be giving orders to the character inside a military base or whatever. Each room or area would 1 or more fixed camera angles to view through. Cameras would auto switch and you can switch to any camera you choose.

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Sure you could and each one would have perceptual ramifications, but I suspect that multiple monitors inside a particular type of setting (setting determines POV is many cases, as well as the limitations in perception a particular setting can offer realistically, because you are not going to jack with the suspension of disbelief) are relevant to the design of that setting, and the limitations of camera shots you could choose.

Addy