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UK Exclusive: The Bourne Conspiracy Feature
Chris Leyton
16/05/2008
In the first of a four part Dev Diary series, High Moon's Dave Cravens explains the mesmerising camera effects in The Bourne Conspiracy...
In the first of a four part series here on TVG, High Moon Studios' Dave Cravens takes us through one of the most appealing aspects of the upcoming Bourne Conspiracy game. The films are famed for their unique camerawork, utilising handheld cameras to raise the intensity levels of the action. Dave Cravens managed the team who were tasked with translating this feverish camera style to the game, and here he explains some of High Moon Studios' secrets to us.
We've even got an exclusive screenshot for you to drool over.
Cinematics
Dave Cravens
My name is Dave Cravens and I manage the Cinematics Department at High Moon Studios. My team is responsible for creating the real-time cinematics in the game including sequences for our Quick Action events and a good 90% of all game cameras in "The Bourne Conspiracy".
For everyone who has watched any of the Bourne films, one of the most recognizable, stylish and perhaps even controversial aspects of the franchise is its camerawork and editing. Paul Greengrass, the director of the last two films, shot his films much like a documentary. With handheld cameras that followed the action, he framed situations so the viewer could only see bits or pieces at any one time. The real brilliance of how it all comes together is through the editing. Not one shot, action or frame really stands on its own. It's the combined effect of all the pieces acting together that give the Bourne films their signature look and energy.
This philosophy served as a terrific springboard when tackling the game cameras and cinematics. It was a goal early on to make the game "feel" like a movie without depending on all the of the usual trappings of a licensed game. To us this meant not only immersing players in dynamic environments with grand soundscapes, but using the language of cinema itself in the camera behavior in the game. More importantly, it meant maintaining that style seamlessly between gameplay and cinematics whenever possible.
Take a typical fight in our game. When Bourne first meets an opponent there is a sequence to highlight the new threat to the player. Sometimes there is a mini-game where the player must beat his opponent to the punch. From there the game camera seamlessly moves into fight mode, during which the player sees the camera react with shakes and rolls from each hit he connects. The behavior mimics handheld techniques, as if a cameraman is following Bourne closely and reacting to the action. The more hits Bourne connects, the more the camera pushes in to highlight the action, and the player has complete 360 control of the camera itself all the while.
To give the game's camera behavior that extra edge, we have what's called a "wiggler" employed throughout all in-game cameras. The wiggler is a variable algorithm that gives every camera in the game more of that handheld feel. There is not one moment in the game where the camera is completely still. It's always moving, even if by a single pixel a second.
Our fighting has a system where once Bourne has filled sufficient adrenaline, he can perform a takedown on his opponent. For camera behavior, these kill moves are highlighted through a series of dramatic angles and real-time camera cuts before seamlessly moving back into the navigation camera. With a single takedown, all of this can happen in the span of ten seconds. It looks and feels very much like something out of the Bourne movies.
Admittedly, creating what we now smoothly call our real-time cinematography wasn't a smooth process. The more we looked like a Bourne movie, the more complicated the controls became to players, and sometimes the more sick the players got. One major change was when we scaled back a bit from what we called the "Greengrass" rule. Ultimately what we have, I think, is heading us in the right direction as a studio and as an industry.
Its always a proud moment when we get feedback from fans who assume what they're seeing in our trailers are cinematics rather than gameplay. If you're watching and asking yourself that question, you can assume you're watching gameplay. I should know - I also cut our trailers. The Weapon Trailer in particular opens with a short, obviously pre-rendered sequence. Once it hits the action, the bobbing camera, dynamic angling, real-time camera cuts -it's all in the gameplay. It's the first time I've ever been happy that people confuse the two. That's been our goal. We want to blur the line between movies and games like never before.
Stay tuned for more Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy Developer Diaries, every Friday here on TVG for the next month.
The Darkness
Date Added:Mon 7th Jul 2008 17:32
Anonymous
Date Added:Tue 20th May 2008 12:28