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Fixed In the Edit

Given the power they exert over film and other visual media, it's no surprise that some editors think of themselves as gods... and when it comes to turning raw, disorganized messes of raw footage into complete narrative products, they might as well be. Not to mention the advice that a (possible) god once told (wannabe god) Bender, that goes doubly for editors: "when you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." Not to say there isn't flashy editing, of course, the kind of cuts that demand a viewer's attention and acknowledgement through sharp juxtaposition or shifting from one part of a story to another in a manner reminiscent of a page being turned or curtain pulled. But these examples are notable because they're standout exceptions - most editing has the far more mundane, but no less miraculous, task of turning a three-walled set filled with lights, cameras, microphones, and all the people running them into the illusion of a closed room with no evidence of artifice. Or showing action from multiple angles without viewers even realizing, carefully mapping a path for their eyes to follow. We are aware, though, when things are done badly, even if we don't understand the specific reasons a sequence might feel "choppy" or fake.. which reminds us just how subtle and vital the art of editing is.

While rarely recognized as a "creative" endeavor in the commonly recognized sense, an editor works intimately with a work's other creators to help them actualize their visions and goals. At the same time, they also have to understand audiences and what they want, conceptualizing viewers and crafting a work to become accessible to them. It's something I find more fascinating the more I learn and think about it, which got me wondering what the equivalent process would be when it comes to the strange bastard child that claims film and television as one of its direct antecedents: electronic games. Sure, there are obvious equivalents when it comes to cutscenes that play out as standard cinematics (or, with surprising frequency, comics), but what about when it comes to the gameplay itself, when then player is in charge of the action... or at least their own portion of it. What can an awareness of the art of editing teach us about this aspect of the way we interact with games?

As mentioned above, in film (which I'll use as a general term for sequential narrative visual media), the bulk of editing effort goes into creating illusions of physical space and the passage of time - both things that make up a lot of the "curated reality" of electronic games, from the simplest (the virtual playfield of Pong and the speed at which balls move) to the most complex (sandbox games that cover vast territory, yet allow the player to move across them with relative ease, unthinkable even with the accelerated time most games like this use). Had these editing techniques not been standard practice in the films that form the backbone of modern culture, I doubt they'd be comprehensible to those who play electronic games or those who make them - yet they've been as vital in the medium's growth as any graphical development or improved control technique. There is a cost to baking these techniques into the games themselves, though: it makes it harder to adjust these factors and achieve certain effects. Not impossible, though: incorporating these adjustments can be mechanics in themselves - think of the way the world reshapes itself at certain points in Katamari Damacy so that formerly large objects now behave the way smaller ones did previously, or the way that Max Payne's player-activated bullet time literally puts a film editing technique at audience's fingertips (provided they've charged up the meter, of course).

When it comes to the subtle ways that editing builds a curated reality in film, though, games have to take different approaches, usually a blend of fixed elements and those under player control. When games developed to the point of depicting specific locations, perspective became a factor to consider. And as the number of potential locations grew, so too did the need to differentiate them, not to mention account for travel time. But like a well-edited series of scenes (or panels), if the transitions are carefully considered, the audience simply takes the shifts for granted. The ways to convey a sense three-dimensional space across a series of interconnected two-dimension "rooms" become, just as in the early days of film, stylistic choices that signify a certain genre or even specific creators. Once games were able to actually present a 3D world (or at least convincingly fake it) new approaches to perspective had to be considered, all with their own benefits and drawbacks, and once again contributed more to the games and their stories than a mere approach to deciding what players should be able to see. RPGs or adventure games might keep the pre-rendered 2D background approach, creating a theatrical, even dreamlike effect appropriate for fantasy worlds. Action games might keep the player character in the center of the frame and ready to react. And horror games might take the "fixed camera" approach, closest to that of film, where the viewing angle is pre-determined by room (or even by the player character's location within that room), creating a sense of unease that danger could come from any of the less visible parts of the world. While the limitations of these approaches can be frustrating, particularly to player used to a fully-rotating "modern" camera, I rather appreciate the visual storytelling possibilities achievable through the older methods. Today, most games allow for full 360-degree rotation, trading cinematic subtlety for clarity in presenting  the game world.

But, as mentioned above with games that incorporate editing techniques into gameplay, this isn't exactly an either/or situation - rather, the payer is presented with the editor's tools and can use them as they see fit... all we have to do is choose to take the role on ourselves. If we want to get a little more of a certain feeling from a game, we, as players, just have to make the conscious choice to use the tools available. Position your camera in a way that conveys mood, not simply what's most convenient. If you have to choose between fast travel or taking your time, imagine if the game was a movie - what approach would be more appropriate for an audience? Every game presents opportunities like this, it simply requires that one doesn't take their involvement for granted. We play narrative games because we get a say in how things work out, and we get a lot more say in how those stories are told than we realize. And, without the financial, physical, or emotional costs of film school or pursuing careers in the industry, we get to try a little of that "movie magic" ourselves. So the next game you play, give it a shot - you might find yourself feeling a little more like one of those editors who think they're gods than you expect... or at least appreciating all the work that goes into the ways our stories are told.

- B


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