The Cinematography of Resident Evil

Introduction

I recently replayed Resident Evil 2 Remake again. It’s been one of my favorite games, and it just got even better, five years after release, with no official content added from Capcom. So, what happened? A modder by the name of alphaZomega, created RE2R Classic, a mod that adds fixed camera angles, tank controls, auto-aim, and more. It very closely realizes what older Resident Evil fans originally hoped to see with the remake of RE2. This is seriously one of the most impressive mods I’ve ever played. To the point where, I think this might be the default way I play RE2R in the future. It’s that good.

It’s so good it got me thinking about the significance of fixed camera angles. I had just finished a playthrough of RE2R, so I shifted gears slightly and decided to dive into and record footage of Resident Evil Remake, the game that first comes to mind when thinking of this style of presentation. This article features a video I put together cataloging all of my favorite fixed camera angles from REmake. Therefore, this text serves as a companion piece where I will go through and write a little blurb about each clip, highlighting what I appreciate about it. But first let’s run through some details about the game and some modifications.

Game Version and Modifications

I’m a huge REmake fan but when it comes to the HD remaster of 2015, the quality can suddenly seem a bit lackluster. So, for this article/video I wanted to bring out the best in REmake without deviating from the original vision. Luckily, again, modders out there have Capcom covered. So, in this section I’ll layout what mods I’m using before we get into the video.

For clarity, I’m playing the Resident Evil HD Remaster for PC from 2015 of the 2002 GameCube remake of Resident Evil which is based on the 1996 PlayStation original. I have modded this version of the game to improve the graphical/audio quality and fidelity. Here’s the mods:

Resident Evil REupscale Project (v1.5a) by Shiryu

Description from modder: REupscale project is a mod that upscales and corrects, using Topaz’s A.I. Gigapixel, the background textures of Resident Evil HD Remaster. The textures are the kept at the same original resolution (1920x1440) but they are obtained by downsampling images twice that resolution. Some textures use the Gamecube original source (~90%) while others are upscaled from the HD Remastered texture (~10%).

GC/Wii Shader Restoration by masterotaku

Description from modder: This real-time graphics mod adds hotkeys to disable the contrast boosting shader responsible for crushing the blacks in this remaster. Instead it replicates the gamma levels we saw in the GameCube/Wii release while balancing the lighting and enabling the option to remove film grain.

Retcon Pack (REmaster) by Bloodyhunter

Description from modder: Here are a few reskins themed around retroactive continuity. In the case of this mod, we're dealing with the character's appearance.
My goal was to maintain coherence/consistency between the look of the characters in REmaster and the ones they have in general in the rest of the franchise (and especially the last things released).

Fixed Background Music by Mr. Bunny

Description from modder: This mod fixes the volume and speed of the soundtrack, which in the HD Remaster was dramatically sped up and pitched higher, for whatever reason.

Every Frame a Painting

Resident Evil, after a little tweaking, is a game where literally every frame could be a painting. So, here’s the video I put together showcasing my favorite camera angles from REmake, and to follow will be some brief notes on each segment for some supplemental context, enjoy.

Mansion 1F - Main Hall

So, this is the first room in the game and if you’re not familiar with the fixed camera perspective, this particular angle may seem like a beautiful mistake. In third-person perspective games, something like this could happen in a tight space where as you move the camera it clips into a wall or other object. This often leads to a situation where a low-resolution texture is brought far too close or there simply isn’t a texture on the other side of that wall for example.

Mansion 1F - Dining Room

The slight upward angle, the table-level view, the wine glass knocked over makes me feel as though I’m peering through the eyes of someone who keeled over in their chair at their last supper.

Mansion 1F - Dining Room

The camera points you towards the pool of blood, posing the same question to the viewer as it does to Barry and Jill, "What is this place?".

Mansion 2F - Main Hall

The storm outside features so prominently in the atmosphere of these rooms at the front of the mansion. Despite the unease the mansion causes, it seems to provide some respite from what’s outside. And that’s the key, we don’t really know what’s outside. None of the early camera angle give you a clear view. Rabid dogs even greet you at the front door if you try to leave. It leaves a lot up to your imagination.

Mansion 2F - Outside Patio

The first of a few times the game obscures the view of your character. I love these shots. And the moths flickering around the lamp in the foreground is such a nice touch. Something about staging objects in the foreground that add depth to the scene also gives me this feeling of being watched, as if there’s some creature perched in the corner here. Example to follow.

Mansion 2F - Outside Patio

POV: You’re an owl in a tree outside Spencer Mansion.

Mansion 1F - West Wing Outer Stairway

Coming through a door transition to a close-up, head-on camera angle that completely hides the room you just entered is a great move to create tension. Then there’s the crows in the background creating quite the ruckus, but the cawing is just distorted enough to leave you with some doubt as to what exactly you’re walking into.

Mansion 1F - West Wing Outer Stairway

Still hiding the crows from view but now the frame has a slight tilt, the chandelier is swaying back and forth, there’s an oddly placed mirror causing you to see yourself twice… everything about this room screams: SOMETHING IS OFF HERE.

Mansion 2F - Outside Balcony

I haven’t seen such menacing trees since the Evil Dead.

Mansion 2F - Dining Room

Love the vertically on display in an angle like this. It’s spots like these that really help bring together your mental map of the mansion. Even the audio of the ticking clock brings it together.

Mansion 1F - East Wing Storage Room

I simple angle for a simple room. You’re hiding in a storage closet, and you need to stash away some of your things for later, oh and here’s an incredibly soothing track while you’re at it.

Mansion 1F - Northern Corridor

What’s not to love here. Hiding the window with the zombie and just showing the shadow cast on the wall, simple but effective.

Mansion 1F - Researcher’s Bedroom

Ever have that feeling as a kid where you didn’t want to walk too close to the edge of your bed because something from under might reach out and grab your feet?

Mansion 1F - Tea Room

Ok this one was just a unique opportunity. Typically, this guy just relentlessly runs you down, here he was a little more docile. I just wanted to get a good look at him after all these years.

Mansion 1F - Medical Storage Room

One of my favorites. Such an intimate, cozy shot. I love the everyday items that are highlighted here. The book, notepad, lamp, a quaint desk, the retro typewriter. In this corner, things are normal, things are safe. This is something that other camera perspectives would have trouble capturing because the perspectives are often too fleeting.

Mansion 2F - Attic Entry

The flickering light at the end of the hall. The bloody handprint smeared across the wall in the foreground. The horror surrounds you.

Mansion 2F - Resting Room

Another cozy shot. This whole room has such a warm glow once you light the fire.

Courtyard 1F - Muddy Path

The first time you venture away from the mansion it’s down this muddy path. And then the camera flips revealing the mansion looming large behind you. Despite tree branches obscuring it from view, you can make out two lit windows peering like eyes, watching you descend into the forest.

Courtyard 1F - Small Headstone Area

Setting a crow perched on a gravestone in the foreground, overlapping its cawing beak with your neck is quite the statement.

Courtyard 1F - Forest Pathway

Straight out of a “cabin in the woods” type movie. The creaky, wooden cabin, tree branches reaching out to grab you, the moon peeking through the trees…

Courtyard 1F - Cabin

Huge onlooker vibes with this one. Definitely makes you feel like a trespasser in someone else’s home.

Residence 1F - Rec Room

If you have arachnophobia, I’m sorry for this one. This certainly exaggerates the fear of a spider dropping down on you.

Residence 1F - Rec Room

I just like the atmosphere here.

Residence 1F - Room 002 Bathroom

A claustrophobic bathroom where you can’t get a great look at everything because the fan blades keep spinning by. The sound of insects scattering about but you can’t pinpoint where they are is such a primal irritant.

Aqua Ring B1 - Control Room

Nothing special here just a funny shark zooming around.

Aqua Ring B2 - Storage

Another one of my favorites. This shit is straight out of a Michael Mann movie for crying out loud, almost every surface is wet and reflecting light.

Aqua Ring B1 - Walkway

One of the few angles that scales way back. It’s less intimate and more like you’re playing with an action figure. A neat contrast to showcase the scale of some areas. The idea of an underground lab with a shark tank this large in it is so scary to me. Reminds me of Half-Life but also SeaWorld. Something about these large apex predators in these tiny for them but large for us tanks is so unsettling.

Mansion 1F - Mirror Room

A funny trick to pull for a fixed camera angle game.

Mansion 1F - Courtyard Study

This room always makes me feel like someone escaped the horrors of the mansion. The shutters rattling in the foreground seem to imply someone left in a hurry. The resources and orderly nature of the rest of the room suggest someone was holding out here until they decided to abandon ship.

Courtyard B2 - Lisa’s Room

On the other hand, there’s Lisa’s room, disorderly, grimy, cultish. Because this area has such a lived-in feel, this angle always makes me feel as though she’s watching from the rafters. I also like how this angle highlights the ring of candles.

Courtyard B2 - Lisa’s Room

Honestly, it’s a pretty cozy spot all things considered.

Courtyard 1F - Cabin

This kind of goes without saying, but the REmake mansion and surrounding areas are not 3D models whatsoever. The environments of REmake are 2D backgrounds with effects over top and 3D character models. What I’m getting at here though is that in our imagination, these 2D backgrounds create a 3D world, obviously. I want to it point out because views like this help form that 3D space. This angle brings together two rooms, anchoring them together with the fireplace highlighted in the background. I don’t catch onto all the techniques used to help the player’s mental map along but when fixed cameras are done poorly the world can become very disorienting to navigate.

Laboratory B2 - Stairway

I love puddles of water in this game.

Laboratory B3 - Operating Room

A little bit of a sneaky jump scare here. The tight, downward slanting angle with the corpse in the forefront has you second guessing what’s going on.

Laboratory B3 - ‘O’ Room

More puddles and more fans please… This is another favorite for sure. The light behind the fan causing it to cast these thick shadows, the heavy, oscillating hum, it’s so damn atmospheric.

Laboratory B2 - Visual Data Room

I just like this setup they got going on here.

Laboratory B4 - Main Lab

And I had to get Barry in at least one of these. The blue hue of this room is pretty memorable too.

BONUS SECTION:
Enter The Survival Horror (Maybe/Sometimes)

Resident Evil is a bizarre franchise that holds such a strange and shifty status in not only video game culture but pop culture at large. Prior to playing many of the games, my perception of the series was predominantly based on the awful early 2000s movies I saw on the SciFi channel as a kid. I feel many must be just like me in that regard and just think “schlocky zombie movies” when Resident Evil gets brought up. And I can’t simply tell you to just play the games either… that could send you in a multitude of directions. I’m setting all this up to say, play this one, play the Resident Evil HD Remaster for PC from 2015 of the 2002 GameCube remake of Resident Evil which is based on the 1996 PlayStation original. It’s really great. Unless you want “schlocky zombie movie”, then go and play Resident Evil 4, 5, and 6. That’s the thing, Resident Evil has a little bit for everyone out there. It’s been around since 1996 and the only thing that seems consistent is its inconsistency. Since the series continues to vary wildly in direction, story, quality, etc… here’s my 2024, mainline Resident Evil series two cents, for those unacquainted or interested:

Resident Evil (1996) - It’s ok. Couldn’t really get into it or finish it, maybe someday.

Resident Evil 2 (1998) - Great. Memorable location, soundtrack, characters, everything.

Resident Evil 3 (1999) - Also great. A nice little upgrade from RE2. Super cool locations.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica - Need to play this one.

Resident Evil (2002) - The pinnacle of the series in my opinion.

Resident Evil 0 - Meh. Has some memorable locations, but certain mechanics are done very poorly.

Resident Evil 4 - Good. Hasn’t aged perfectly and took the series in a new direction, but clearly super influential.

Resident Evil 5 - It’s rough. Couldn’t make it past the opening levels. This and REmake aren’t close to the same genre.

Resident Evil 6 - Haven’t tried, don’t plan to.

Resident Evil 7 - Mediocre. A tale of two halves.

Resident Evil 2 (2019) - Fantastic. One of my favorite games

Resident Evil 3 (2020) - Mediocre and incredibly disappointing. So much cut content from the original and a mixed bag gameplay-wise.

Resident Evil Village - Has already aged poorly, not a fan.

Resident Evil 4 (2023) - Fantastic. Turned around a lot of my opinions on the original.

And that’s it for now. Who knows where the series will go next… I’m mostly hoping for a fixed camera mod for Resident Evil 3 remake now. The prospects of whatever Resident Evil 9 will be or a remake of 5 have me less than enthused but like I said, you never know with this series.