Cutscenes. Those fantastic little snippets of gameplay also known as in-game cinematics that give you that hands-off moment of relaxation to sit back and understand parts of a game's narrative. They are beautiful, breathtaking to look at, and are often quite different from actual live gameplay. As technology and 3D animation evolves, the rift (which I remember being very distinct when I was younger) between style of interactive game and that of the cutscenes is now slowly being closed. There is not as much of a difference as more tolerant games engines and consoles allow for equally stunning gameplay. But how have cutscenes developed over time and how do the methods used to create them effect the overall quality of the scene?
Cutscenes stereotypically involve some form of plot-thickening/forwarding interaction between characters at a pivotal point in a game. Usually you have a sense of euphoria that you've reached a major point in the game, and there are few as welcoming as the in-game cinematic. They can typically either be animated, live-action, or pre-rendered and open following a command or trigger in the game, from a video file stored in the game's files. Cutscenes don't always have to be extravagantly detailed and fully moving. For example, some RPGs (role-play games) feature just text and transitioning images to engage the player, yet they are very successful.
"Pac-Man, first released in 1980, is frequently credited as the first game to feature cut scenes, in the form of brief comical interludes about Pac-Man and the ghosts chasing each other around during those interludes, though Space Invaders Part II employed a similar technique that same year." - Arcade Museum
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| Yes, this is a Pac Man cutscene... |
Pre-rendered scenes are usually notorious for being the most "well-endowed" as they can make use of an array of methods to attract the audience. CGI, cel animation, and various other styles can be used to make the most of being pre-rendered. They are usually both animated and rendered by the game developers. The Final Fantasy series make use of this pre-rendered cutscenes as they were introduced in their possibly most popular Final Fantasy VII.
Live action wasn't really used that much in comparison. It definitely has a novelty about it and gives off that "retro", cheap and cheerful, often a bit kitsch feel to it. It was probably most popular in the 1980s/90s because of this effect. Some of the Star Wars games make use of live action.
Animated cutscenes can feature the use of motion capture, Machinima, and some other variations. Machinima has been especially popular recently and uses real-time computer graphics, often for fan-based animations such as Red Vs Blue (Halo spin-off), and Garry's Mod (Half Life/Team Fortress) shorts. Although there can be legal issues as fans often use popular games they have not created themselves to manipulate AIs (artificial intelligence) into a form of puppetry for comedic value, it is very well loved on the internet and can be used for a variety of purposes - just one of the many benefits to the creation of character and narrative; fan-based work using pre-rigged characters to engage in animated stories of their creation without having to have extensive knowledge of animation itself making it more accessible to the world.
Games such as Half-Life have actually done away with the cutscene altogether as Valve (the developers) see them as more of a hindrance to the gameplay than being helpful. I personally find certain aspects of cutscenes to be annoying and distracting, though I can respect them highly as an artform and would happily work on them in the future. Maybe the future of gaming is to do away with cinematography in video games altogether... We can only wait and see.
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