Convergence is a fact, says Ubisoft

Ubisoft talks a good talk about the supposedly inevitable convergence of movies and video games.

Yannis Mallat is the chief executive of the Ubisoft Montreal studio. "Convergence is, or will be, a fact," he says. "It is not just a hope; it will happen."

Two years ago, Ubisoft started up a CGI division, Ubisoft Digital Arts, to give it the capacity to make 3D movies. A year later, it bought Hybride Studios, the visual effects house behind films such as 300 and Sin City.

Assassin's Creed
Ever since, it has been working on Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Lineage in parallel. The former, sequel to the 2007 action-adventure game, you will probably have heard of. The latter, a set of short movies that form a live-action prologue to the new game, may not be so familiar.

Assassin's Creed: Lineage comprises three high-definition movies, 38 minutes long in total. Each was filmed with live actors placed, via the magic of green screen, into computer-generated environments extracted from the game world. The first episode will be released on October 27 through YouTube.

"This is a unique way of making a new kind of movies," Mallat says. "This sets us apart for what is the future in entertainment."

Convergence is "a fact"
For Ubisoft, Lineage is the first step along a path to total movie-game convergence. According to Mallat, that path will see Ubisoft "evolving from a simple developer-publisher into a full, 360-degree content provider."

Despite the poor reputation of movies based on games, he assures us that films stand to improve by closer collaboration with video games. "Films, or the creative process of making films, have a lot to learn from games.

"The pre-rendered world allows not only the re-use of assets but it also allows the creative process of making movies to be better, quicker, thus allowing more time, more iterations, for the directors to make great movies."

Films "have a lot to learn"
In the pre-visulation phase of movie-making, in which scenes are digitally mocked up ahead of filming, the Ubisoft exec reckons video game technology has a lot to contribute: "When you do that work with assets coming from a game... then you do that phase at a quality level that is much higher than what it used to be. Then you're making better movies."

Mallat has also been involved with the production of James Cameron's Avatar: The Game. He recounts being struck by the relatively backwards technology in use by filmmakers.

"When I was visiting Jim on his set, he was showing me his tools and he was really excited about all the possibilities that his tools were allowing him.

"He was basically building a virtual set where by playing a scene already pre-rendered... he could do and redo the scene. He was describing this like a kid with a new toy - and this is James Cameron! - and I was like, oh my god, these are tools we've been using for years."

Conversely, games do have some things to learn from the world of film. "We're not at the level of Hollywood yet," he admits, referring to cinematic game cut-scenes.

Not yet at Hollywood level
So how exactly do games stand to benefit from the convergence Ubisoft envisages? "I always have in mind the example of the joint casting for the movie and the game", Mallat says, referring to how Assassin's Creed II, unlike its predecessor, cast a single actor to be the voice and likeness of Ezio Auditore, the game's protagonist.

"Because the game team was working with the movie team and the director, people who have been doing that for a long time, we were able to raise the bar of quality for all our cinematics in the game. We call that 'acting 2.0'. That wouldn't have been possible without the movie project. When you can capture the performance as a whole in one shot, then you have the whole integrity of the performance."

That integrated casting, one element of convergence, makes for more involving games and films. "When you can have the same likeness, voice and performance in the two mediums, then you achieve this immersive experience that the player lives while he's... watching the movie and playing the game. And then, all those connections that happen in the brain create this enriched experience."

Movie tie-in games
"Acting 2.0" aside, if convergence is good for everyone, why are games of films - much like films of games - generally so rubbish?

"There is a very simple reason for that," says Mallat. "The games that are based on movie licenses are merchandising products. The model is: a studio is making a film, they go through the whole creative phases - conception, research, writing a script, storyboarding and everything, then they go to shooting and post-production.

At some point, someone in the studio is like: by the way, we should merchandise this thing. And what's left for the game developers? A very short amount of time to produce a game that eventually, obviously, will not be good. There is a correlation time between development time and the quality of the game."

Assassin's Creed: The Movie
Ubisoft appears to be testing the waters with three short films set in the Assassin's Creed universe. But Mallat is cautious on the topic of a feature-length, Ubisoft-produced movie.

"For us, the value lies on the path to get there. Are we going to make a film of Assassin's Creed? Maybe. Are we pretentious enough to say we are movie producers from now on? Definitely not.

"When it becomes time to talk about innovation and trailblazing new stuff, we're very aggressive. We're also very humble and we do baby steps. The baby is getting bigger and bigger - but it's still baby steps."

No release date for Assassin's Creed: The Movie, then. But is Ubisoft's strategy, at least, the solution to all the horrible movies-of-games we've suffered so far?

"I think it's definitely a good way," Mallat says.

Preview: Assassin's Creed II
Watch the trailer for Assassin's Creed: Lineage