Cut Scenes Taking Shape

Cut Scenes Taking Shape was a Capcom development blog published 31st July 2009. It is the fifteenth in a series of some twenty-three blogs detailing the development of the game.

Transcript
Shirogumi inc. is creating the cut scenes for Darkside Chronicles, and Mr. Hidekazu Gondoh is directing them. Shirogumi has been doing CG animation for quite awhile, working on game cut scenes, TV commercials, and CG in feature films. They most recently worked on K-20: Kaijin Nijyuu Mensou Den (K-20: Legend of the 20 mysterious faces), and will be working on BALLAD Na mo Naki Koi no Uta (BALLAD: The unnamed love song) this September.

Hidekazu also worked on Umbrella Chronicles with me, and in my opinion he’s not your average director. He offers great opinions on the story which make the cut scenes even better in the end. Mr. Hidekazu’s mark has been left on the game’s story. He has especially strong feelings about the Veronica story which he was involved with.

I talked with Hidekazu from the beginning about how we wanted to do the cut scenes. We aimed to emphasize the games central concept of presence through the cut scenes, so they were suffused with a sense of reality. At that time, we weren’t exactly sure how we wanted to increase the realism of the cut scenes in the game, but I agreed with the director that we had to imbue the scenes with a raw, real feeling.

One other thing we aimed for was quality that exceeded the high standards set in Umberella Chronicles. That was an absolute must, and difficult since the cut scenes in Umbrella Chronicles were great. One thing we were careful and conscious of during Umbrella Chronicles was creating a sense of uniformity between the cut scenes and the gameplay itself. We didn’t constrain ourselves quite so tightly this time around, and we decided to let the more powerful aspects of the story come through with high quality CG this time around.

Of course just saying “We’re gonna make the cut scenes look better!” won't get it done. Actually executing those goals comes down to CG technique, and Hidekazu has that in spades.

Hidekazu took care of all the storyboarding, and actor’s motion capture performances were recorded at Shirogumi’s studio. After that, we recorded voices in Los Angeles. A lot of different steps and many people are involved in the process of creating the cut scenes for this game. It's a very tough job to oversee and control everything that goes into the creation of these scenes.

Right now we are in the process of finishing off the game’s final scenes. All the rough cuts I’ve been getting from the director are absolutely incredible. This is thanks to Hidekazu’s skill in direction as well as the technical expertise and hard work of the team at Shirogumi.

One of the guiding principles we kept in mind from the beginning while creating the cut scenes was the use of light and the overall mood of the lighting. We used lighting that was similar to the in-game scenes, but more dynamic and active. Another principle was character expressions and eye movement. Characters that might otherwise look a bit doll-like really come alive when their eyes are moving realistically. I was really happy about that small detail as it added realism to the scenes, specifically in Claire and Steve’s expressions.

I’m very excited that you’ll be able to see all of our work so soon. It won’t be long now!

■About me I have directed such titles as Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and Beat Down. I enjoys travelling. I’m also a fan of horror novels, especially Stephen King’s books. His earlier works, like “Salem’s Lot”, and “Firestarter” are must-have items. Both of those have been made into movies, but I strongly recommend you read the books.