Play the game in the opening scene A multidisciplinary lens for understanding (video)ludic movies, including Super Mario Bros., Resident Evil and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Abstract

The aim of this article is to create a multidisciplinary tool concerning the passage from the medium of videogames to cinema. According to concepts taken from Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Semiotics and Game Studies, we will explore the multiple dimensions and the related connections that occur in the film linearization of digital interaction: production issues, narrative and aesthetic elements, heuristics and mechanics in-game and on the big screen, and so on. The framework will be tested through three paradigmatic case studies: Super Mario, Resident Evil, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The overall intent is to give scholars, and also practitioners, a holistic perspective on this peculiar type of crossmedia process, pointing out virtuous productive strategies as ruinous ones.

Keywords

• Ludic movies
• Multidisciplinary approach