Our final project was to find screenshots from movies that fit under certain categories. I decided to tailor this more to my major by choosing to do video game cut scenes instead of movies.
The first game that I chose was "The Last of Us" which was developed by Naughty Dog. This game is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a young girl, who is immune to the disease that turns people, must be escorted across the country by a man named Joel. The three things I had to pay attention for in cut scenes were color, lighting, and narrative.
Color
This screenshot comes from the beginning of the game when the players see firsthand the initial outbreak of the disease that infects the world. The color of the photo is all red hues which emphasizes the violence and horror that came with the literal end of the world.
Lighting
This screenshot comes from an extremely tense moment in the game when Ellie, the young girl he was watching over is kidnapped and Joel, on the right, is trying to find out where she is. The overall dark tones point to the uneasy nature of the situation.
Narrative
This screenshot is from one of the most important parts of the overall story in the game. This point solidifies the relationship that Joel and Ellie built while crossing the country. Through his actions Joel confirms that Ellie has become an integral part of his life which is an important part of the overall narrative in the game,
The next game that I chose was Horizon Zero Dawn, another game about a post-apocalyptic world. This game centers around Alloy, a young woman who lives as a part of a primitive tribe of humans that holds on after the apocalypse. The end of the world is brought on by machines that still inhabit the world that Alloy lives in. She goes on a journey to figure out who her mother is and the significance of that relationship. The next three things that we were to look out for were scale, metaphor, and paradox.
Scale
This screenshot comes from the opening cut scene of the game, where Alloy's guardian (not her father), Rost, completes a ceremony and give her her name. This screenshot shows a great example of scale, despite the fact that Rost and Alloy are in the foreground and much larger than the mountains in the background, we still can see the sheer scale of the mountain compared to the the two people.
Metaphor
In this screenshot, Alloy is trying to get into a ruin that might give her more information on where she came from. This door is a metaphor that helps describe Alloy's mental state at the moment. She is still immature and is not emotionally ready for the information that she is trying to look for. The door is a metaphor for the barrier that exists stopping Alloy from getting what she wants.
Paradox
There is something whimsical about the idea that the creation can destroy the creator. The phrase "don't bite the hand that feeds you" is popular for a reason. Overall the main conflict in the game is a bit of a paradox because the machines that were created by mankind are the eventual downfall of mankind. Ironic and paradoxical.
