The Game Frame
Video games are for many people playgrounds to escape from the real world and enjoy the possibilities inside a virtual environment. To enhance this virtual environment, in recent years a lot of effort has been put into the games’ development: sophisticated technologies allow very realistic scenarios, characters and sounds in order to give the player an unforgettable and immersive experience. Since the nineties, the video game industry has become bigger and bigger, expanding their studios and focusing on the script, music, level design and graphic which requires specialized employees for each field. Furthermore, real actors have recently been hired to take part in specific games through the very advanced photogrammetry tool. Everyone is intrigued to play in such atmospheres and imaginary places where you can have different emotions from a video game to another and moreover, it is also possible to be connected and play together with friends from around the world. Since the video game industry has introduced Photo Mode (a relatively new in-game feature which allows the player to take photos during the on-going game) the answer to the question “Are these stunning photos of imaginary worlds a new artform?” (BBC) still remains uncertain. The series of images shown here combine a photo taken of a TV screen with a professional camera when the video game is in Photo Mode and an actual image of the real world underneath which portrays an expansion of the two dimensions. The two images communicate within themselves through common elements such as colours, atmospheres, environments in order to disorient the visitor who is looking at them. “If you capture virtual light in a virtual world with a virtual camera, is that photography?” (Hopes&Fears) The Photo Mode interface is deliberately shown in order to make the many possible adjustments visible to the viewer. In addition, the two images are slightly separated by the black thin (real) frame of the television screen. A second black (digital) canvas was later added to the real picture which aims to mark the close boundaries between virtual and real. In this way, not only the two media photography and video games interfere with each other, but also the line between the imaginary and playful and the real and “serious” world becomes blurred: where does the game end and where does it start?The Game Frame
Video games are for many people playgrounds to escape from the real world and enjoy the possibilities inside a virtual environment. To enhance this virtual environment, in recent years a lot of effort has been put into the games’ development: sophisticated technologies allow very realistic scenarios, characters and sounds in order to give the player an unforgettable and immersive experience. Since the nineties, the video game industry has become bigger and bigger, expanding their studios and focusing on the script, music, level design and graphic which requires specialized employees for each field. Furthermore, real actors have recently been hired to take part in specific games through the very advanced photogrammetry tool. Everyone is intrigued to play in such atmospheres and imaginary places where you can have different emotions from a video game to another and moreover, it is also possible to be connected and play together with friends from around the world. Since the video game industry has introduced Photo Mode (a relatively new in-game feature which allows the player to take photos during the on-going game) the answer to the question “Are these stunning photos of imaginary worlds a new artform?” (BBC) still remains uncertain. The series of images shown here combine a photo taken of a TV screen with a professional camera when the video game is in Photo Mode and an actual image of the real world underneath which portrays an expansion of the two dimensions. The two images communicate within themselves through common elements such as colours, atmospheres, environments in order to disorient the visitor who is looking at them. “If you capture virtual light in a virtual world with a virtual camera, is that photography?” (Hopes&Fears) The Photo Mode interface is deliberately shown in order to make the many possible adjustments visible to the viewer. In addition, the two images are slightly separated by the black thin (real) frame of the television screen. A second black (digital) canvas was later added to the real picture which aims to mark the close boundaries between virtual and real. In this way, not only the two media photography and video games interfere with each other, but also the line between the imaginary and playful and the real and “serious” world becomes blurred: where does the game end and where does it start? copy.JPG)
