The video game cutscene has undergone a lot of transformations over the past couple of decades, and many games these days present elaborate, dazzling CGI sequences that are often billed as "Hollywood-caliber."
But the truth of the mater is that most cutscenes wouldn't rate a straight-to-DVD release. In fact, according to Wired's Jason Schreier, many cutscene directors can't even follow the most basic rules of filmmaking.
In a great collection of analyses, Schreier (whom readers might remember for having the funniest of all the East Coast Earthquake tweets), lays into a number of hackneyed cutscene indulgences.
Infinite Undiscovery, Mass Effect 2, and even Super Paper Mario aren't safe—problems highlighted include "Enter Late; Leave Early" (A director should begin a scene as late as possible, and get out as soon as the scene is done without lingering) and "Avoid Endless Exposition." One guess as to which game director gets called out for that one.
5 Film-School Violations in Videogame Cut-Scenes [Wired]
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