I have a cop comedy that I wrote and plan to film. I thought that an interesting way of shooting it would be with point of view cameras and sound in the style of a first person shooter video game. I really liked the idea, but some of the scenes that offer the most marketability would happen outside of the POV of the police. If I'm true to the concept, those scenes wouldn't be seen. The premise of the flick is that a police reality TV show is riding with the cops in this department and the officers themselves are cammed up. My question is this; if I show the scenes that happen outside of the POV in the manner of the in-game mini-movies that establish the plot in a FPS game, do you guys think that the audience will go along with it? I don't want to use the POV if I have to loose these scenes and I don't want to include the scenes if it's going to ruin the suspension of disbelief. Thoughts?
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"First Person Shooter" as a video style?
- Thread starter Lucky Hardwood
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Personally, I wouldn't go along with a FPS view for an entire film anyway. I find it an annoying gimmick that only works in rare special occasions. Also, don't think I'm just an old guy who hates video games; I own an Xbox 360 and a PS3 and enjoy first person games. I just can't stand that point of view in films.
They did this for a short patch in the movie "Doom", and though it was fun for a minute because of the product tie in, I'd say it definitely does not work in film.
The POV stuff would be intercut with shots taken by the film crew that rides along with one of the cops to break up the monotony. Another issue that I can foresee is the audience would get tired of the camera motion. I watched an episode of "Police POV" and was not thrilled. The flip side is that, if I use too much footage from other than POV, the whole first person shooter style premise falls apart.
Completely disagree, it's not a gimmick lol. It would probably be considered a gimmick, and I'm using the word gimmick very losely, if there were only a few scenes that were shot in First person POV. Reason being gimmicks don't alter an entire product.
I actually liked Cloverfield, Diary of the dead, Rec, Blair witch project. Those were POV movies, and I know there's a difference between POV, and First person POV.
EDIT: This thread seems very similar to Harmonics thread except his was POV with a camera, not FPS style.
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I was the one that informed H44 of the headset cameras from T.A.S.E.R. I knew about them from researching this idea as a way of keeping production cost for the project to a minimum. I was thinking that I could do something in post to give the footage a video game like feel without making it cheesy. I don't want the finished product to look gimicky or cheap.
My primary question was, if I include footage of things that happen when the cops aren't around, will that mess up the concept?
I am now thinking that this style might be better suited to an action short, not a feature length police comedy intended for theatrical release.
My primary question was, if I include footage of things that happen when the cops aren't around, will that mess up the concept?
I am now thinking that this style might be better suited to an action short, not a feature length police comedy intended for theatrical release.
Why not try a snorricam on your actors back to make a look more akin to a third person shooter? I think it could work better than first person; I would agree there is a gimmicky nature to that technique, but more importantly I just don't think it lends itself especially well to film. The third person technique could give a more cinematic feel and also allow you to see more of the 'money shots'
Just a thought, although if you're interested there's a tutorial for a diy snorricam here
Just a thought, although if you're interested there's a tutorial for a diy snorricam here
Depends how you shoot it, really. Like other said above, if you do it like they did in "DOOM", well...good luck.
However, if you do first person POV like they did in something like "Enter the Void", where it uses that POV for much of the film, then it could work out.
However, if you do first person POV like they did in something like "Enter the Void", where it uses that POV for much of the film, then it could work out.
If I go with the FPS style it will be almost all of the footage of the movie (except the set-up scenes) and all of the police characters will have POV cameras on them. So, if I want a shot of A talking, I just use the footage from B's camera. If A and B are doing something, I use C's footage etc.
Just a thought; in a video game, there are often cutscenes that break away from the character to show what other characters are doing (rarely, if ever, 1st person). Also, some games have cutscenes of the main character, but not from the same perspective. This seperation of story and gameplay might work for you, not only in terms of making your film more interesting, but you might be able to twist that for some humor as well.
As for good uses of it, the first thought was an episode of the Venture Brothers cartoon. Done from the perspective of a nameless minion, showing the setup for a battle and getting killed by one of the series' protagonists.
As for good uses of it, the first thought was an episode of the Venture Brothers cartoon. Done from the perspective of a nameless minion, showing the setup for a battle and getting killed by one of the series' protagonists.
To answer your original question, I wouldn’t use footage from a different perspective. If you’re going with a “COPS” style film, having the officers wear head-cams as well as being followed by a documentary crew will work just fine. If I understand what you’re getting at, to then cut away from this, to a “traditional” style of film, showing the antagonist/s, will drag the viewer out of the world that you worked so hard to put them into. How would the crew producing this fly-on-the-wall documentary get a hold of this footage?
Playing an FPS game is completely different to watching a movie; games can get away with a lot more than films, in my humble opinion.
EDIT: Unless… Are you aiming for something a bit cheesy? Those cut-away scenes, if you were to add the word “RECONSTRUCTION” onto the footage, that would work just fine, especially with some sort of narration. As I say though, that would increase the cheese-factor one-hundredfold.
Playing an FPS game is completely different to watching a movie; games can get away with a lot more than films, in my humble opinion.
EDIT: Unless… Are you aiming for something a bit cheesy? Those cut-away scenes, if you were to add the word “RECONSTRUCTION” onto the footage, that would work just fine, especially with some sort of narration. As I say though, that would increase the cheese-factor one-hundredfold.
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This is what I was getting about the cut away scenes of action that the police characters would not be present for. In brief, the plot is that we follow the night watch of a fictional police department as they go about their day to day assignments and attempt to track down and catch a peeping tom (it is a comedy after all). The peeper is targeting strippers from the one "Gentlemen's Club" in town. The scenes that I'm referring to being out of context with the FPS perspective are the ones of the peeper perving on the dancers in their homes. These scenes increase the marketability because of the gratuitous T&A.
This is what I'm afraid of. The idea of the flick is "Super Troopers" meets "Cops" with a touch of "Scooby Doo" thrown in for good measure. As I said elsewhere, this movie is aimed directly at the main stream market and is intended for theatrical release.
I think you're thinking more of a documentary or cinéma vérité style than a POV PFS style, which I agree looks like gimmicky cr@p 0.2seconds into your work.
I advise against it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinéma_vérité
I suggest more Paul Greengrass. Less Doom.
GL & GB
I advise against it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinéma_vérité
I suggest more Paul Greengrass. Less Doom.
GL & GB
The more I think about it, the less I like the idea for this particular project. I don't want the cinematographic style to detract from the viewing experience. I can see this style being cool for a low budget action short film (hint, hint Harmonica44), but not so much for a comedy like this one.