Florida State University Libraries Honors Theses The Division of Undergraduate Studies 2015 Video Game Cinematography Nicole Smith Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact
[email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS VIDEO GAME CINEMATOGRAPHY By NICOLE SMITH A Thesis submitted to the Department of Motion Picture Arts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with Honors in the Major Degree Awarded: Spring, 2015 The members of the Defense Committee approve the thesis of Nicole Smith defended on April 9, 2015. ______________________________ Dr. Andrew Syder Thesis Director ______________________________ Dr. Leah Edwards Outside Committee Member ______________________________ Kenn Robkin Committee Member ______________________________ Keith Slade Committee Member Chapter 1 ‐ Introduction Over the past forty years, video games have evolved alongside technology. What originally began with simple black and white vectors created for entertainment has turned into an original storytelling device that allows a player to become a part of, and control, another world. The earliest games, such as Pong (Atari, 1972), did not contain much of a story. Story in video games began through their advertising – such as with Pac‐Man (Namco, 1980) and Star Wars (Atari, 1983). With Pac‐Man, the characters were brought to life through a backstory used in advertisements. The company even went so far as to produce an animated TV show based upon the game. Star Wars, on another hand, was based off of the popular trilogy and gave players the opportunity to step into the universe and try their hand at defeating the Death Star in an epic space battle.