With the blurring lines of comic books, video games and film; is anything really unique to its craft anymore?
The Technical’s
-With a film, you’re only watching and observing it rather than immersing yourself in an imaginary world like video games. In the early days of motion picture, 18 FPS would be the norm but now, Hollywood films use 24 frames per second and are made months before they’re shown. A video game has to use around 30-60 FPS instead of 45 due to the inefficiency of not doubling up on frames. If you take into account that slow mo photography runs at 48 FPS then we can start to see why games have to be rendered in real time and why it takes so long for each project to be constructed. A film can manipulate its viewer; the angle in a shot is the only thing that matters so less time is spent on it. A video game has limited graphic choices due to the interactivity and because the player is choosing what to do, more time has to be dedicated to the content and angles.
Now, it’s not uncommon now to play a game and ending up with hours of cut scenes. For example, below are two films that could have found their origin in games:
-The Matrix: From the gymnastic wall runs to the slow mo action sequences, the visuals and narrative are akin to a futuristic video game. Agent Smith’s lack of personality and driven motivations would make an incredible boss battle. However, this film franchise did go onto produce a set of games
-Total Recall (2012 version): The frequent chases, gun fights and generally awful graphics make this recent adaptation more of a video game than an enjoyable cinematic movie. In terms of filmmaking, Total Recall was a real disappointment, especially when you consider how good the soundtrack, scored by Harry-Gregson Williams was.
Lara Croft has become incredibly realistic… and more gritty
But what about games that should be films? Below are a couple of games that definitely deserve a film adaptation.
The Last Of Us (2014): A poignant soundtrack that would force grown men to weep and with a strong plot and visuals, TLOU is clearly the best game of 2013.
Beyond: Two Souls: This is the game that would sell great as a paranormal film despite the interactivity. The main character looks very real, mainly because it’s modeled and acted by real life actress Ellen Page (known for her edgy work in Hard Candy and Juno).
Arkham Asylum (2009): One of my all time favourite video games, down to the interactivity, visuals and constant heckling from Mark Hamill’s ‘The Joker’. Because when you take an insane person to an asylum, you’re just taking him home, you know? I’m not alone on this either as Rocksteady went on to produce 3 sequels.
Tomb raider (2013): So, yes technically this has already been made into a film starring Angelina Jolie but this is the video game that actually inspired this article. Remember back in the old days when Lara Croft looked like a Chinese woman with a face made out of concrete and triangular breasts? Now, she’s so lifelike, she’s almost attractive.
Far cry 3 & 4: As far as villains go, The Far Cry series does them well. In 3 we have Vaas, a native of Rook Island who is obsessed with the idea of insanity.
In 4, we have Pagan Min: the power hungry King of Kyrat (a place I almost wish was real). This installment achieved the most hype but also achieved the best soundtrack with a frenetic, icy cold swirl of sounds composed by Cliff Martinez (Known for Drive).
Deadpool (2013): This crude and gory antihero game based on the Marvel character Deadpool (real name, Wade Wilson) is actually set to be a shiny cinematic release next year with Ryan Reynolds playing the titular character. Cue lots of swearing, blood and general unapologetic comedy.
With the popularity of game to film adaptations, we’ll soon have a game to match every film. Which isn’t bad for your bored little thumbs.
