As part of his ongoing exploration of how writers, poets, and filmmakers represent videogames, videogame players, and videogame culture, Mike Sell explores how the Oscar-nominated film 1917 by Sam Mendes adapts the visual logic of third-person action-adventure videogames.
In videogames, he argues, "we see character. And we see as character." He examines the shared visual and experiential structures of third-person games and the illusion of a single, uninterrupted shot created by Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins. He also delves into the challenges faced by third-person storytellers when attempting to create strong empathetic relations between viewers and characters.