2-D Games are the new Black & White Films

[Capt_Commando]

I sat down recently and watched Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, Yojimbo, coming away with a re-affirmation: 2-D games are akin to black & white films.

When watching a classic black & white film, and I mean REALLY watching it, you begin to notice techniques in lighting that wouldn't register in the same way using color film.

For instance, when Toshiro Mifune has been badly beaten and is crawling under the walks and stairs of the enemy compound, Kurosawa uses the contrasts of light and dark afforded by filming in black & white to focus on Mifune's lone, unbloodied eye...wide in fear and pain. His orb is highlited by the lantern's glow as the light passes through the floor-boards to strike a stark horizontal beam across his face, yet the dark hides the rest of the mobster's grisly work.

In a color film, that same scene would lose substantial drama, because color film offers the audience a deluge of information, which subsequently answers all the questions a black & white film posses: Is that mud or blood all over Mifune's face? How bright is the lantern's light? Could the mobsters possibly see him? etc.

Black & white film asks that the audience use their imaginations. Not everything is laid out; information must be gleaned from visual cues not readily apparent. We must see further than our sense of sight, into our mind's eye - into the imagination.

Now consider 2-D games. There are no sprawling cities composed of polygons, such as are found in GTA4's Liberty City. Distances in Muramasa are made throught the artful use of paralax scrolling and multiple layers of flat backgrounds. You must accept that Fuji-san, shown small in the background, is in reality an enormous mountain. You must accept that the buildings and walkways in town are bustling with people, and not just flat shadows, thrown about like so much confetti.

Just as black & white films ask more of the audience in order for a full and worthwhile experience to be achieved, 2-D games must be played with the acceptance that the audience is an integral part. YOU must participate in the illusion the gamemakers have crafted.

More on this later!

[Mark_Of_The_Wolves_Terry2]

have you seen Seven Samurai?

[Windowlicker77]

I agree. Kurosawa is classic nothing else needs to be said. The older I get the more I appreciate what film makers did for effects and cleaver ways they produced these films. Watching documentaries really gives you a clue into how creative these guys were. Kurosawa was really a step above for films during that time. With games Vanillaware seems to be pushing 2D art in games so much further than most. They are using every trick in their arsenal. My thoughts are the less you have to work with the more it forces you to really push the boundaries of that medium. A great example is F-Zero for the SNES. The technology in that game, Mode 7, was a revolutionary for the time and pushed the industry in new directions. I think Muramasa has really brought back the beauty of 2D back with newer technology. It’s like a moving wood block painting. I'm not saying they are the only ones there are many great studios that make 2D games but this is the most beautiful and appealing IMO. :)

Seven Samurai is my favorite Kurosawa film it's pretty interesting how many westerns from the 60's and 70's ripped off his ideas and plots. Clint Eastwood being the most prominent.

[Mark_Of_The_Wolves_Terry2]

I agree. Kurosawa is classic nothing else needs to be said. The older I get the more I appreciate what film makers did for effects and cleaver ways they produced these films. Watching documentaries really gives you a clue into how creative these guys were. Kurosawa was really a step above for films during that time. With games Vanillaware seems to be pushing 2D art in games so much further than most. They are using every trick in their arsenal. My thoughts are the less you have to work with the more it forces you to really push the boundaries of that medium. A great example is F-Zero for the SNES. The technology in that game, Mode 7, was a revolutionary for the time and pushed the industry in new directions. I think Muramasa has really brought back the beauty of 2D back with newer technology. It’s like a moving wood block painting. I'm not saying they are the only ones there are many great studios that make 2D games but this is the most beautiful and appealing IMO. :)

Seven Samurai is my favorite Kurosawa film it's pretty interesting how many westerns from the 60's and 70's ripped off his ideas and plots. Clint Eastwood being the most prominent.


i totally agree with you,Kurosawa was way ahead of his time.he was also the first director to "zoom in" the camera on actors faces during certain scenes.alot of people did rip-off of him.IIRC,i think George Lucas(Star Wars fame if anyone didn't know)got the idea for the Light Saber after watching Seven Samurai or something like that.

[Mad Max]

I'm all for derailing this thread into a Kurosawa love fest. Even his lesser stuff like Dreams are still really good. Now Seven Samurai in particular is one of my favorite films of all time. Those 4 hours went by so fast I could have watched another 4.

[Mark_Of_The_Wolves_Terry2]

I'm all for derailing this thread into a Kurosawa love fest. Even his lesser stuff like Dreams are still really good. Now Seven Samurai in particular is one of my favorite films of all time. Those 4 hours went by so fast I could have watched another 4.



i agree,Seven Samurai left my jaw on the floor seriously.it was that good.i hadn't ever seen a Samurai movie(or movie period) like it.it amazed me in so many ways.i've seen it thousands upon thousands of times.off-topic,but another great Samurai film is Blind Swordsman:Zatochi,it may not be on Seven Samurai's level,but it's still real good.

[Windowlicker77]

the first time I saw Seven Samurai. I had read about Kurosawa before but hadn't seen any of his stuff. After a few hours in you hardly notice the time thats passed. My favorite scene in the beginning is the crazy guy in the barn. That is one of the best. It's full of great moments. So what other films of Kurosawa are your guys favorites? I have Dreams in my Netflix instant view I have to watch.

[Mark_Of_The_Wolves_Terry2]

the first time I saw Seven Samurai. I had read about Kurosawa before but hadn't seen any of his stuff. After a few hours in you hardly notice the time thats passed. My favorite scene in the beginning is the crazy guy in the barn. That is one of the best. It's full of great moments. So what other films of Kurosawa are your guys favorites? I have Dreams in my Netflix instant view I have to watch.



my favirote scene in Seven Samurai is when those 2 guys fight to the death.and my all-time favirote scene is when they purposely hide a guy behind the entrance door of the hut to see how each Samurai would react to it.i've seen SS and alittle bit of Yojimbo.but i haven't seen alot of Kurosawa's other movies.i think there are some movies i've seen of Kurosawa's that i didn't know were Kurosawa's movies.:o

[Windowlicker77]

my favirote scene in Seven Samurai is when those 2 guys fight to the death.and my all-time favirote scene is when they purposely hide a guy behind the entrance door of the hut to see how each Samurai would react to it.i've seen SS and alittle bit of Yojimbo.but i haven't seen alot of Kurosawa's other movies.i think there are some movies i've seen of Kurosawa's that i didn't know were Kurosawa's movies.:o

Oh yeah those are great scenes too. I looked on Wiki for Kurosawa films I have seen a lot of them either. Rashomon is another big film he did that a lot of people have seen but may not know he did.

[GlendaleViper]

It's somewhat serendipitous that you posted this, as I wrote a (lengthy) post on this exact subject elsewhere, prompted by the re-release of Monkey Island. My specific point was that hand drawn graphics tended to allow the imagination to fill in gaps and otherwise suspend disbelief in ways that polygonal work never has (not suggesting it never will).

My argument was, quite simply, that we've reached a point of realism in 3D gaming (and I would argue cinema as well) where things have gotten realistic enough to keep someone from needing to supplement the experience with their own imagination, yet not quite real enough to completely absorb them into its world.

As it is, my personal take is that, by design, hand-drawn graphics and black & white filmmaking (among other media) are, at their root, base abstractions intended to represent rather than replicate. Tackled purposefully and with a careful eye, such "technically inferior" practises are capable of evoking strong emotional responses without the need for realism (whether naturally present or approximated).

You've put forth an excellent example with Kurosawa's filmmaking, as he was a true master of the art, evinced further by the fact that his films are still so beloved and revered today, even with newer generations. I would expand that argument to include two-dimensional gaming or, more specifically, pixel-art/sprite-based gaming (SNK being the undisputed king in this arena).

Niche though these games are (and let's face it, B&W filmmaking is about as niche as it gets nowadays too), they still have a rabid fanbase and I would argue that it is BECAUSE of the technical limitations of the medium, not in spite of them. Hand drawn games absolutely ooze with character - are they realistic? Not at all, but that doesn't matter when what is presented is so lovingly crafted. When an artist is faced with technical limitations, they work within them, often breaking the associated barriers and elevating the end result beyond something that could ever be considered "inferior" to more modern techniques because, in the end, it's not realism but intent that makes the work so engrossing and endearing.

I'm running on like I tend to, so I'll stop here, but I did want to add that there is still good work being done in the 3D realm of gaming. SFIV proved that you really can have polygonal character models that ooze character, as did Beyond Good & Evil, Zelda: Wind Waker, Viewtiful Joe, Ico & Shadow of the Colossus just to name a few. Even Braid, a storyless platformer at its core, managed this kind of immersive experience. All of these games eschewed absolute realism for character, atmosphere and a cohesive design which accommodated levels of immersion rarely seen in so-called realistic gaming.

Anyway, sorry to derail the derailment, but I'm passionate about my 2D games, it's a true art form and one I never want to see die.

[Windowlicker77]

Well said Viper you make great points!

[Mark_Of_The_Wolves_Terry2]

Oh yeah those are great scenes too. I looked on Wiki for Kurosawa films I have seen a lot of them either. Rashomon is another big film he did that a lot of people have seen but may not know he did.


i think i saw Rashoman before.didn't Kurosawa do like a movie with a ghost samurai and this samurai was guarding a palace or something,i can't remember what it was called,but i seen that one.and since were talking about Samurai Films, Blind-Swordsman Zatochi is great. :D

[Windowlicker77]

since we were talking about Kurosawa I thought I would mention that Netflix has just updated the "Instant View" with a bunch of his films. So if you have Xbox Live or PSN with Netflix enabled then you are ready to go. Here is a list of what they have as of yesterday.

Dreams
High and Low
Yojimbo
Sanjuro (just watched this today AMAZING, sequel to Yojimbo)
Hidden Fortress
Seven Samurai
Ikiru
Rashomon

Pretty good selection enjoy them hopefully they get a lot of buzz so Netflix has incentive to put more up!! Why are you reading go watch now!!!:D