Trigger Happy
7). But function always takes precedence over such stylish touches: when the hero moves away again, the camera reverts to its normal view, enabling the player to see more of the environment. True montage, meanwhile, is still not used. An action movie would, for instance, cut from a
Most of the work done by automatic videogame cameras, indeed, is largely modeled on a different medium altogether, and this brings us to the second, aesthetic rationale for such visual systems. The kind of montage seen in a car commercial does crop up in videogames, but only after the action has finished. This is the burgeoning phenomenon of the videogame “replay.” Gran Turismo enables the player to watch a race he has just driven, with virtual cameras placed at spectacular angles on every bend. The reins are handed over to the digital director. The effect is thrilling, and clearly drawn not from film but from the style of television sports coverage. Similar replays accompany goals scored in the soccer game World Cup ’98, and
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