Point of view shot (also known as POV shot) is a short scene in a film that shows what a character is looking at. It is usually established by being positioned between a shot of a character looking at something, and a shot showing the character's reaction (WordIQ.com)
First, it is important to know the difference between the subjective shot and the more general POV shot. Subjective shot is when the camera shows that the actual eyes of a character would see. In other word, subjective shots happen when two of the looks, he look of the camera and the look of a single character, merge together as one, and POV shots show roughly what a character would see. In the reading, they brought up an example of the Terminator’s computerized artificiality of his cyborg’s visual cortex as the subjective POV. Robocop and Predator’s visions are also used as examples of subjective POV in the reading. It is very interesting that never thought about the origins of first-person-shooter games, when they are actually employed in a lot of movies that I’ve watched. The reason these movies that employ subjective POV became successful is that the viewers are not unsatisfied by seeing the visible, computer enhanced traces of Robocop’s vision because these traces- the low resolution video image, degraded with static and computer effects reinforce the very fantasy of cyborg vision. What is interesting is that the first Robocop movie came out in 1987 and many people found the subjective POV in cyborg vision very interesting, though are not familiar with the concept of subjective POV at first. The first movie that employed subjective POV and FPS shot was released in 1925, from Go West. Nowadays many movies employ subjective POV such as Paranormal Activity.
According to the reading, first FPS game was invented in 1970s and perfect by ID Software in the early 1990s with games like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. FPS games grew to be a successful game genre today. There are a number of successful FPS games like Counter Strike and America’s Army. FPS games can fit into both hardcore and casual game. People consider Counter Strike as hardcore game because it requires shooting at bloods dripping opponents till he dies. Whereas, arcade FPS games does not require much time and is less intense in terms of bloodiness. FPS games are also used as a simulator for training purpose in the militaries. Last but definitely not least, there are FPS game tournaments where players compete against another for the championship. Today, both the FPS game genre and the player culture grew significantly big.
In conclusion, video games are the first mass media to effectively employ the first-person subjective perspective, whereas film uses it only for special occasions.
Why do you think some people prefer FPS game over other kinds of game? Is it because FPS games are from subjective POV, and therefore provides more realistic feelings?
I think people play FPS games because it seems very realistic. for example, in Modern warfare, everything looks very realistic and player could experience the war indirectly without any physical damages, and worrying to die. They can be hero of the war by shooting numerous enemies, which is actually what most soldiers want to be. the better graphic technology the FPS game will be based on, the more people will enjoy the game I think.
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