First Person Point of View

The choice of which point of view to take is an important decision in any narrative work. Films are quite similar obviously to books in that no matter the point of view, we are still going to be on a predetermined path created by the artist. It is a completely different medium from written books though, and certain techniques don't work as well in film. The first person view point for example is something directors have never quite been able to use successfully. Lady in the Lake (1947) experimented with the idea, but was critically unsuccessful. The entire film is seen through the eyes of the main character, but the camera technique extends to little significance beyond seeing him open doors and complete other mundane tasks -- didn't exactly wow people.

In Lady in the Lake (1947), the entire movie is told in first person through
the main character's eyes.

The view point has to have a reason. In books first person works fairly well because we are already in our own world while we read, and we can literally see into the mind of the character. The reason is much more clear. With a book you can literally write out all the characters thoughts and not have to worry about pacing of action/chronology and things like that, which is the reason I believe Lady in the Lake clunked. The pacing was just odd with him staring at stoic characters waiting for him to finish thinking.

The first person technique is just starting to get interesting in gaming, however. For a while video games suffered from the same problem as films do, it really wasn't clear why first person was used when it was. Games like Doom and Rise of the Triad used the viewpoint only really as a gimmick to give the game a unique visual appeal. Recent games have started to use the first person point of view in clever ways, with storytelling and emotional impact in mind. The intro level in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare uses first person extremely effectively. The entire game is told from a first person perspective, usually from a soldiers point of view; but this level was different. The story started with the execution of an important dictator to fuel a war. For this level only, you were the dictator being brought to your execution. This was incredibly impactful because you had no way to escape; there was no way to survive. As gamers we've all been trained to believe there is a way to survive. Here there wasn't -- you play as him up until the moment you're killed. The objective was simply to reach the end where you had to die.

An Ultranationalist threatens the player who is being driven to his execution
in Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare.

Imagine a movie you've seen where someone is shot -- have you ever (even nearly) felt in danger? If shot from a first person view point, would that movie be as impactful as a game where you are literally controlling the character? No, it wouldn't. The fact that you control his movement in Modern Warfare is what makes the level so much more impactful than any movie could be, and the first person view point made you really feel like you were the one in danger; it completely immersed you. In Moving Viewers: American film and the spectator's experience, Carl Plantinga argues for the importance of emotional response in film, that it is important to the critical analysis of a film. This is true as well for video games. That's the main reason to use first person in games -- when it comes to storytelling, immersion is far more important in games than in films, especially in achieving an emotional response.




References:
Plantinga, C. (2009). Moving viewers: American film and the spectator's experience.
Berkeley: University of California Press.