Interactive movies

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Under the supervision of Bernard Perron

This research project focused on the phenomenon of interactive cinema, specifically on works that integrate live action sequences and interactive possibilities. From the outset, it is interesting to underline that what we consider as the «first» interactive film, Raduz Cincera’s One Man and His World, was presented here in Canada during Montreal’s Expo 67. However, this geographic proximity is far from being the most interesting aspect of the phenomenon. Interactive cinema experiences, at least in the popular entertainment domain, are increasingly rare and the genre has undergone an undeniable decline. Nevertheless, at the turn of the 1990s, the enthusiasm around these experiences seemed to announce the coming of a new genre with a bright future ahead. The project emerged out of this first historical observation; what could have triggered this decline?

The project has allowed us to better understand what distinguishes interactive cinema and to see how it has (dis)integrated within the broader mediatic fields. Thanks to documentation, it has contributed to preserving the memory of a large body of works that were assimilated (more or less) to “interactive movies”. Our investigations led to a distinction between three types of manifestations: the interactive movie itself, the movie-game (associated more specifically to video games), and media arts, a practice that is as rich as it is diffuse. In so doing, over 421 works connected to interactive cinema were listed and indexed between 2004 and 2008. This research program has led to the analysis of a great number of works that sure seem “dated”, but still reflecting on the contemporary audiovisual interactive culture (immersion, interactivity, narration, attraction) in an exemplary manner.

Grant Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada (SHRC): "A History and Theory of Early Interactive Movies" (2004-2008)

Research Assistants

Dominic Arsenault (2005-2008)
Martin Picard (2006-2008)
Guillaume Roux-Girard (2007-2008)
Carl Therrien (2005-2008)

Results

- Database: Filmography of early interactive cinema

Publications Top of the page

Book chapters and articles

The Archives: Post-Cinema and Video Game Between Memory and the Image of the Present

Perron, Bernard, and Simon Dor. 2014. “Addressing the Preservation of Gameplaying: Archiving Actional Modalities (Execution, Resolution, and Strategy)”. In Bernard Perron and Federico Giordano (eds.), The Archives: Post-Cinema and Video Game Between Memory and the Image of the Present, p. 177-200. Milan : Mimesis International.

Perron, Bernard. 2013. “La sempiternelle attraction du cinéma interactif”. In Jean-Marie Dallet (ed.), Cinéma, interactivité et société, p. 61-81. Montrouge and Québec : Éditions Burozoïque and Presses de l’Université du Québec.

Perron, Bernard. 2012. “Interactive Movies”. In Mark J.P. Wolf (ed.), Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming, p. 322-324. Westport : Greenwood Press.

Perron, Bernard. 2010. “DVD et cinéma interactif”. In Leonardo Quaresima and Valentina Re (eds.), Play the Movie, Il DVD e le nuovo forme dell’esperienza audiovisia, p. 133-149. Turin : Kaplan.

Perron, Bernard. 2010. “Videoplay”. Amusement, n° 7 (January-March), p. 198-199.

Perron, Bernard. 2009. “Entre bande dessinée, cinéma et fiction interactive : l’écran divisé du BDVD”. In Leonardo Quaresima, Laura Ester Sangalli and Federico Zecca (eds.), Cinema e Fumetto/Cinema and Comics, p. 609-626. Udine : Forum. [PDF]

New Review of Film and Television Studies

Perron, Bernard, Dominic Arsenault, Martin Picard, and Carl Therrien. 2008. “Methodological Questions in Interactive Film Studies”. New Review of Film and Television Studies, vol. 6, n° 3 (December), p. 233-252.

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This article focuses on the phenomenon of interactive movies. As a genre that has almost totally vanished, defined mostly by the abundant use of filmed video sequences (called Full-Motion Video or FMV) on which the player/gamer can intervene, the interactive cinema has left an impressive corpus seemingly forgotten. In this research, we call attention to the significant historical heritage of this collection which we call early interactive cinema. Beside its cinematographic appeal (which had obviously led to its name, and probably also to its demise), our interest lies on its ergodic dimension, mainly what we are calling figures of interactivity and actional modalities.

Perron, Bernard. 2008. “Genre Profile: Interactive Movies”. In Mark J.P. Wolf (ed.), The Video Game Explosion: A History from Pong to PlayStation and Beyond, p. 127-133. Westport : Greenwood Press. [pre-publication PDF]

Therrien, Carl. 2008. “CD-ROM Games”. In Mark J.P. Wolf (ed.), The Video Game Explosion: A History from Pong to PlayStation and Beyond, p. 121-125. Westport : Greenwood Press. [pre-publication PDF]

Perron, Bernard. 2007. “T'es où [Luc Courchesne]?”. Intermédialités, Jouer, n° 9 (spring), p. 156-175.

Perron, Bernard, and Carl Therrien. 2007. “>>Pointez-et-cliquez ici<< Les figures d'interactivité dans le cinéma interactif des premiers temps”. In Enrico Biasin, Giulio Bursi and Leonardo Quaresima (eds.), Film Style, p. 395-403. Udine : Forum. [PDF]

Perron, Bernard. 2005. “Le cinéma interactif à portée de main”. In Alice Autelitano, Veronica Innoncenti and Valentia Re (eds.), The Five Senses of Cinema, p. 447-457. Udine : Forum. [PDF]

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This article analyzes the ins and outs of the various interfaces that allow the viewer to interact with a film, interfaces that make use of the viewer’s sense of touch. It examines how (interactive) movies has granted and grant control, either through the buttons installed on an armchair; with a light gun, a keyboard and a mouse, a touch screen, a DVD remote, or the joysticks of the PlayStation’s DualShock controller. In short, this article studies the repositioning of the viewer entailed by this "freedom" of movement.

The second meaning of the title of this article considers the hypothesis advanced by the advocates of recent media telling that video games would be the interactive cinema of tomorrow. If this is the case, and as we have learned by studying early cinema, we must strive for a historical distance and consider early interactive cinema for what it is, a practice that would result in another.

Other relevant publicationsTop of the page

The Oxford Handbook of Soundand Image in Digital Media

Aldred, Jessica. 2013. “‘I Am Beowulf! Now, It's Your Turn’: Playing With (and as) the Digital Character in the Transmedia Franchise”. In Amy Herzog, John Richardson, and Carol Vernallis (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Image in Digital Media, p. 381-396. New York : Oxford University Press.

Perron, Bernard. 2003. “From Gamers to Players and Gameplayers: the Example of Interactive Movies”. In Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron (eds.), The Video Game Theory Reader, p. 237-258. New York : Routledge. [PDF]

Hypertextes. Espaces virtuels de lecture et d'écriture

Perron, Bernard. 2002. “Jouabilité, bipolarité et cinéma interactif”. In Denis Bachand and Christian Vandendorpe (eds.), Hypertextes. Espaces virtuels de lecture et d'écriture, p. 285-311. Québec : Nota Bene. [PDF]

Events Top of the page

An Afternoon in the Heavy Rain
Joint Ludiciné/GameCODE 2010 Symposium.