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| Body Language in Halo 3 Cinematics *long* | |
| Posted By: SonofMacPhisto <sethjewett@gmail.com> | Date: 11/5/08 6:57 p.m. |
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This is something I've been thinking about for a few days now. I just recently went back to Halo 3 campaign after playing some new games. There are several visuals that have been popping out to me, and it led to some interesting thoughts. Smart video game developers use body language to effectively communicate their stories. Heck, body language is Effective Communication 101. In Halo 3, there are three moments that stand out to me as ways Bungie did it really well. I'm going to approach this a *little* backward in explaining these three moments. Here's what I mean by this: when we first play games the little subtleties are conciously lost on us because we are experience it for the first time. In the end, that's kind of the point. It's how communication works in real life. However, the more we play and watch, the more we are able to 'seperate' ourselves from what's happening on the screen, and then observe those little moments we missed before. In a way, we're discovering HOW those subtleties influence our view of what was happening, and how it helped communicate what was happening. Then, after repeated viewings, we tend to appreciate what's happening even more, and maybe discover something we didn't see earlier. This is where the 'depth' of many stories come from. With these three examples I'm going to show what body language stood out to me, and how it could affect the great action going on around it. 1) Arrival: Master Chief's confrontation with the Arbiter. I'm talking specifically about when Master Chief sticks his pistol in the Arbiter's mouth. Watch the Arbiter. He is STONE COLD COOL - he doesn't even flinch. Think about that for a minute, the MASTER CHIEF, arguably the greatest warrior in the galaxy, shoves a pistol in his mouth. The Arbiter's body language gives Clint Eastwood, at his most badass, a run for his fistful of dollars. Then, he gives Chief a little shove and snap of the mandibles, as if to say 'Are you finished playing around? We have work to do.' In fact, he does say that - 'We're it so easy. We must go, the brutes have our scent.' To me, this really set the tone for the character and the early relationship between him and the Chief. Arbiter is a warrior, and understand the enemy of my enemy is my friend. After his betrayal at the hands of Truth, nothing else matters - even the Chief. To paraphrase another game, 'Now would you kindly help me kill that son of a bitch?' 2) The Covenant - When one Pelican crashes into the back of Chief's Pelican. This one is a little more simple, and already got pointed out pretty well in Ascendant Justice's article about the level. After getting smacked in back by a crashing Pelican, Chief shoots a look over to a fellow Marine as if to say 'Holy crap, did that just happen?' What happens here is the enhancement of the moment, the frantic buildup of action leading to landfall and final engagement of the Covenant. This is what we've been waiting for, and it's going to be awesome. It reminds me a lot of the Silent Cartographer, if you don't move your perspective during the opening cut scene. You are forced to 'look' at the Marine sitting across from you, who gives you a glance as if to say 'Oh man, here we go!' 3) The Covenant - right at the end, after you are betrayed by Gravemind. For whatever reason, after they recover from the fall from Johnson's Pelican, I can't keep my eyes off the fluid, almost sexy, movements of the Chief and Arbiter. It is so fluid and smooth - it communicates a level of cooperation and team work reminicient of the Spartan IIs supposed 'telepathy' in the novels. This shows the fire they braved together, and now stand side by side in their final task. Whatever baggage they had before has been swept aside. They are now a single fighting unit, and therefore one of, if not the most, fearsome team in the galaxy. This readies us, the audience, for the final struggle and defeat of the Flood. 'We trade one villian for another.' The result however, will be the same. -------------- That's about it. Let me know what you guys think. Are they any moments, after repeated viewings, really stand out to you as advancing the story or mood? :)
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