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"Poignant illustration" were my words, dear sir, not "you can't think anything else". I will admit that the subject line comes off a little Cody Miller-ish, though. So, touche.
: I'm not really sure what the relevance of that section of video is to this.
It's about emotion and emotional attachment/investment -- how it relates to character action and how that bleeds through into the visual sequences you create for your particular piece of media.
: You're comparing climatic battles of movies to the opening cinematic of a
: video game. These are different mediums, different situations, come with
: different expectations, and most crucially, have different context . The
: purpose of this cinematic is to briefly introduce our characters, give
: them a mission and stakes, and then get the player pumped for what's to
: come. Clearly, that last part isn't working for everyone; c'est la vie.
: There's no emotional stakes that the fight choreography is
: "ignoring"; we barely know these characters.
I think it speaks volumes about the characters, but there's an emotional disconnect between what the characters should be feeling and their actions.
: I didn't give two wits about the idiot helmet guys on board the Tantive IV either, all I
: know was Princess Bunhead was important and there was some basic
: exposition about plans and droids and stuff. I guess you could complain
: about A New Hope the same way if you only saw the first four minutes of
: it.
And that's where I would argue that you're wrong. The Tantive IV is clearly outmatched by the massive Star Destroyer, having been run down, disabled, and captured. As the rebel soldiers take up defensive positions and prepare for boarding, there's an uneasiness that permeates the scene. If you look closely at the faces and body language of those idiot helmet guys, they're clearly tense and frightened. Danger, and very likely certain death, is just behind that burning bulkhead. I can immediately emotionally invest in those nameless dudes because, holy crap, I'd be fucking scared too.
Buck flat out says, "I figure if God can hear how scared I am, than so can everyone else." And then him and the rest of Fireteam Osiris go flipping down the mountain-side like gazelle, charging straight into the battle with reckless abandon, pounding through rocks and jumping into dropships to punch the snot out a few covenant with perfect fluidity and grace before leaping out as it crashes into a fiery explosion, only to say, "heads up!". You could argue that that's badass, but I can't help but find it totally, completely unrealistic and unrelatable.
If there's no discernible danger, how can I as the viewer feel the fear that Buck's supposedly feeling? How can I relate?