BETA | GAMES MEET FILM
In the wake of Cameron’s CG movie, games developers might be spending a lot more time with their Hollywood contemporaries
28 | MARCH 2010
stalwart motion capture, but no longer is that where game and film technology rub shoulders most vigorously. When filming Avatar’s motion capture scenes in a sprawling facility draped with cameras and computers, Cameron armed himself with what was named the ‘virtual camera’. Effectively an augmented reality viewer, the virtual camera was fitted with a screen at its rear. Pointing the device around the aesthetically blank set Cameron could see in his viewer a real-time version of how the final movie would look, giving the director of a CG work live feedback for the first time ever. And the tech underpinning Cameron’s magic box? A system based on game engines. According to Murtha, Cameron is fascinated by game engines and the opportunity realtime technology designed for development studios can offer the games industry. “There’s so many ways films are becoming like games,” says Murtha. “That’s especially true in the real-time virtual production pipelines that are going to be cropping up throughout different filmmaking areas. I think utilising a lot of the game engine technologies such as transparency maps, sprites, full visual effects and a number of very processor inexpensive tricks are really going to enhance directors’ ability interact with CG content. “Traditionally directors have had to wait months and months to see what’s going to be on the green screen, and they’ve been struggling with that problem for years. It’s actually really detracted from and swayed some of our more creative and best directors, some of whom have previously avoided the CG medium because the tools aren’t there that are in place for makng live action films. “They want to have control, and merging video game and filmmaking technology is allowing these directors to come in and control the CG elements of their films.” Exciting stuff, but from where Murtha’s standing it seems like only those working
behind the silver screen are set to gain from the increasing overlap of film and game technology. But Rang adds that he too sees games and films approaching each other with an equal velocity. “I certainly agree that movies and films are moving closer in that way,” confesses Rang. “Today everybody can access the technology to create games, and create some really great
We want to bring more people to us from the movie industry, like storyboarders and scriptwriters. Xavier Rang, Ubisoft Montreal first and third person-shooters and such. Now everybody can do that, things like narrative are becoming more important than ever. Interaction with narrative, like that which we find in Avatar, is part of the next step.” HIRE AND HIGHER It seems Rang isn’t the only Ubisoft staffer who recognises that what films and games share can become a more significant two-way relationship. In fact, according to Rang’s suggestions, there’s more developers can take from Hollywood’s lots than technology. “We want to bring more people to us from the movie industry, like storyboarders and scriptwriters, just to be sure that we can tell a really good story. We need to move on from checkpoints and missions to something that is far more complex narratively.” So far everything sounds just rosy, but to ignore one glaring discrepancy between
games and films is to turn a blind eye to a major gulf between the mediums. By definition games must hand the reigns to the player, but in doing so they make a huge aesthetic sacrifice, and when they carry the brand of a groundbreaking CG film, it puts an immense pressure on the developer. “There is a pressure there, but that pressure is really important,” insists Ubisoft’s Rang. “We know that we don’t have the same tools as the movie industry, and that there’s a certain quality we can’t match at the end. That pressure makes us find a way to give an intention, and to take all the resource we can to deliver the highest quality we can with the tools we have. After that there is only the fact that we have to accept that we won’t match what we can create today with the CG quality.” “That’s true,” interjects Murtha, as he and Rang start to debate the relative merits of one another’s industies. “But despite that sacrifice the game really provides a role that the audience can play, and in that regard it leads the film. Obviously the graphics and the computer-generated content in Avatar are definitely groundbreaking, and certainly it’s the best that there has ever been. “You can certainly be immersed in the movie, especially when watching in 3D, but in the video game, even without the same aesthetic and the same detail, you are involved and affect changes. That’s important. Our film audiences can’t affect changes.” THE TWILIGHT ZONE Of course, there’s one area where filmmakers and developers occupy a far more familiar footing. While 3D in movie theatres has existed for decades, the new stereoscopic revolution is one that both industries are still testing the water of. It just so happens that Avatar is the poster child of the huge financial investment in revitalising the concept of viewing in 3D, and both game and film can be seen in the next dimension. But how important is stereoscopic display to the professionals who have spent so much time with it? “For me there are many layers of immersion, and we try to provide as many as we can in a game,” reveals Rang. “To provide this extra experience, letting players enjoy the game on a good TV with 3D technology, adds another layer of immersion. However, without 3D you can still feel the game.” “I agree,” says Murtha quickly. “From a filmmaking perspective it’s a very similar situation. I don’t think a movie can rely on whether it’s in 3D or whether it’s a traditional 2D film. I think that using 3D you need to make sure its about using the technology to help tell the story rather than making the film or story about the effect.” Tentative words then, from the men at the zenith of a new direction for big budget entertainment media. Clearly Rang and Murtha respect the considered approach needed to harness the potential of 3D. An intensified approach to technology and staff sharing will be essential if the stereoscopic dream is to become a reality. Working together towards that goal might become the means to a greater end that sees the creation of games and films overlap in a way that far outperforms the potential of the hackneyed concept of an interactive movie.