Visual Communication in New Media Narratives: A Computational Thermal Dramaturgy Analysis of ‘Death Stranding’

Öz

Digital games, as one of today's most effective new media narrative environments, transform audiences from passive recipients into interactive experiencers. This study examines Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding (2019) as a visual communication plane in which cinematic aesthetics are reproduced in a digital environment. The main objective of the study is to reveal how the use of light, colour, and atmosphere in the game structures the emotional messages conveyed to the player. In this context, the game's visual language was examined within the framework of the ‘thermal dramaturgy’ model proposed and used in the research. Twenty-three key scenes representing the game's narrative flow were analysed using a Python-based image processing library (OpenCV), and the RGB colour intensities and visual heat values of the scenes were converted to numerical data. The algorithmic data confirm that cold (blue/grey) colour codes symbolise ‘isolation and uncertainty’. In contrast, warm (amber/orange) colour codes symbolise ‘connection and hope’ as part of a systematic communication strategy. The study reveals that the atmosphere in new media environments is a visual communication tool that can be measured using computational methods.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• New Media
• Visual Communication
• Death Stranding
• Thermal Dramaturgy
• game atmosphere

Yeni Medya Anlatılarında Görsel İletişim: ‘Death Stranding’de Hesaplamalı Bir Termal Dramaturji Analizi

Öz

Dijital oyunlar, günümüzün en etkili yeni medya anlatı ortamlarından biri olarak, izleyiciyi pasif konumdan çıkarıp etkileşimli bir deneyimciye dönüştürmektedir. Bu çalışma, Hideo Kojima’nın Death Stranding (2019) oyununu, sinematik estetiğin dijital ortamda yeniden üretildiği bir görsel iletişim düzlemi olarak ele almaktadır. Çalışmanın temel amacı, oyundaki ışık, renk ve atmosfer kullanımının, oyuncuya iletilen duygusal mesajları nasıl yapılandırdığını ortaya koymaktır. Bu bağlamda, oyunun görsel dili literatüre önerilen ‘termal dramaturji’ modeli çerçevesinde incelenmiştir. Araştırmada hesaplamalı görsel analiz yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Oyunun anlatısal akışını temsil eden 23 anahtar sahne, Python tabanlı bir görüntü işleme algoritması (OpenCV) aracılığıyla analiz edilerek, sahnelerin RGB renk yoğunlukları ve görsel ısı değerleri sayısal veriye dönüştürülmüştür. Elde edilen algoritmik veriler, soğuk (mavi/gri) renk kodlarının ‘izolasyon ve belirsizliği’, sıcak (amber/turuncu) renk kodlarının ise ‘bağ kurma ve umudu’ simgeleyen sistematik bir iletişim stratejisi olarak işlediğini doğrulamaktadır. Çalışma, yeni medya ortamlarında atmosferin hesaplamalı yöntemlerle ölçülebilen bir görsel iletişim aracı olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Yeni Medya
• Görsel İletişim
• Death Stranding
• Termal Dramaturji
• oyun atmosferi

Kaynakça

1. Aarseth, E. J. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on ergodic literature. Johns Hopkins University Press.
2. Adams, B. (2003). Where does computational media aesthetics fit?. IEEE MultiMedia, 10(2), 18-27. https://doi.org/10.1109/MMUL.2003.1195158
3. Bellantoni, P. (2005). If it is purple, someone is going to die: The power of colour in visual storytelling. Focal Press.
4. Bo, Y., Yu, J., & Zhang, K. (2018). Computational aesthetics and applications. Visual Computing for Industry, Biomedicine, and Art, 1(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42492-018-0006-1
5. Bolter, J. D., & Grusin, R. (1999). Remediation: Understanding new media. The MIT Press.
6. Bordwell, D., & Thompson, K. (2013). Film art: An introduction (10th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
7. Böhme, G. (1993). Atmosphere is the fundamental concept of a new aesthetics. Thesis Eleven, 36(1), 113-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/072551369303600107
8. Brachmann, A., & Redies, C. (2017). Computational and experimental approaches to visual aesthetics. Frontiers in computational neuroscience, 11, 102. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2017.00102

9. Bradski, G., & Kaehler, A. (2008). Learning OpenCV: Computer vision with the OpenCV library. O’Reilly Media.
10. Browning, B. (2016). Cutscenes, agency and innovation (Unpublished PhD thesis). Concordia University Faculty of Arts and Science.
11. Carlson, M. A. (1994). Theories of the theatre: A historical and critical survey from the Greeks to the present (Expanded edition). Cornell University Press.
12. Galloway, A. R. (2006). Gaming: Essays on algorithmic culture. University of Minnesota Press.
13. Jenkins, H. (2004). Game design as narrative architecture. N. Wardrip-Fruin & P. Harrigan (Eds.), First person: New media as story, performance, and game in (pp. 118-130). The MIT Press.
14. King, G., & Krzywinska, T. (Eds.). (2002). Screenplay: Cinema/videogames/interfaces. Wallflower Press.
15. Klevjer, R. (2002). In defense of the cutscene. F. Mäyrä (Ed.), Computer games and digital cultures conference proceedings in (pp. 191–202). Tampere University Press.
16. Kojima Productions. (2019). Death Stranding [Video Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment.
17. Konami. (1998). Metal Gear Solid [Video Game]. Konami Computer Entertainment Japan.
18. Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. The MIT Press.
19. MKIceAndFire. (2019, November 8). Death Stranding gameplay walkthrough full game [4K 60FPS PS5 PRO] – No commentary [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7hPTG5Ue1E
20. Niedenthal, S. (2009). Patterns of obscurity: Gothic setting and light in Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 2. B. Perron (Ed.), Horror video games: Essays on the fusion of fear and play in (pp. 168–180). McFarland.
21. Ninja Theory. (2024). Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II [Video Game]. Xbox Game Studios.
22. Peng, Y. (2022). Athec: A Python library for computational aesthetic analysis of visual media in social science research. Computational Communication Research, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.5117/CCR2022.1.009.PENG
23. Perron, B. (2012). Silent Hill: The terror engine. University of Michigan Press.
24. Remedy Entertainment. (2019). Control [Video Game]. 505 Games.
25. Remedy Entertainment. (2023). Alan Wake II [Video Game]. Epic Games Publishing.
26. Russell, J. (2012). Generation Xbox: How video games invaded Hollywood. Yellow Ant.
27. Shirrako. (2019, November 8). Death Stranding (PC) – Gameplay walkthrough part 1 – Prologue (very hard) 4K 60FPS MAX [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbqtkLPMfuQ
28. Therrien, C., Poremba, C., & Ray, J. C. (2020). From dead-end to cutting edge: Using FMV design patterns to jumpstart a video revival. Game Studies, 20(4). http://gamestudies.org/2004/articles/therrien_poremba_ray
29. Valenzise, G., Kang, C., & Dufaux, F. (2021). Advances and challenges in computational image aesthetics. Human Perception of Visual Information: Psychological and Computational Perspectives, 133-181.
30. Valve. (1998). Half-Life [Video Game]. Valve Corporation.
31. Wolf, M. J. P. (2002). Genre and the video game. M. J. P. Wolf (Ed.), The medium of the video game in (pp. 113–134). University of Texas Press.