Why Bungie gets visual storytelling wrong (Destiny)

by someotherguy, Hertfordshire, England, Monday, July 27, 2015, 15:26 (3189 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

Think of art as simulation. And yes, you can simulate things that don't actually exist like dragons or Helen of Troy. Text is kind of amazing in a way, because as I say it all happens in your brain. So does perception. So when you read, you build up this internal simulation by imagining what you are reading looks or sounds or smells like. But your brain knows that it's coming from within and is self generated. Think Inception. But a film for example, is a much richer simulation since it's actually activating your senses. So your brain thinks you are actually seeing and hearing something. The more complete the simulation, the better the illusion, and the more real the response. Right now film is the best we've got, but that will be overtaken once we get VR, and after that the Matrix.

See, when I watch a movie, I know what I'm looking at is an artificially constructed view, pieced together by the director, cinematographer, a bunch of actors and visual FX, etc. It is just as "fake" to me as words on a page.

Now personally speaking, I've never enjoyed reading. Like you, reading words on a page just doesn't effect me the way film or music does. But I also recognize that it is a personal reaction, not a fault of "the written word" in general. Some people respond to books every bit as strongly as I respond to Movies or TV.

Yup, it's all personal preference. I love me a good book, and when I'm reading I'm actually not aware that I'm reading. I don't see words on a page, I'm there, seeing it. The only thing that will ever "wake" me is a particularly egregious grammatical or spelling error.

Compare that to films, where all manner of things can be distracting and ruin my immersion. "Wow, that's good camera work". "Oh hey it's that actor I like" (or worse - "Dammit, who's that actor? I'm sure I recognise him"). "Wow, that's terrible camera work". "This music is awesome, I wonder who composed it?" (or worse - "Oh, I recognise this popular song"). "Damn, I missed that word because of poor audio balance/bad accent/good accent. What did she just say?".

The list goes on.