What Filmmakers Can Learn From Gamers

Gamers don’t just watch a story, they inhabit it.
They’re not spectators. They’re participants.

As filmmakers, we could use a little of that.

While cinema has long been about control, games thrive on agency. The best games aren’t about pixel density or perfect rendering—they’re about immersion, responsiveness, tension, and choice.

At Fragrant Film, we’re asking: What if we approached filmmaking like game design?

1. Build Worlds That React, Not Just Impress

Games aren't admired—they’re entered.
That’s because they’re built around experience, not performance.

What would it look like to treat your film world the same way?

• Does the environment tell its own story?

• Can the audience feel the weight of choices characters make?

• Are we designing scenes that invite presence, not just applause?

Cinematic worlds should respond, not just stand still.

2. Choice Is What Creates Tension

A player always has a choice.
And that choice carries emotional weight.

In film, we often script over choice—leaving characters on rails. But what if the tension doesn’t come from the plot twist, but from the cost of a decision?

Write your scenes like a player’s dilemma:

• What does this character want vs. what are they allowed to do?

• What are the risks of each path?

• Could the scene change depending on what they choose—not what we’ve decided?

That’s where narrative starts to feel real.

3. POV Isn’t a Shot—It’s a Philosophy

Games make you see through the story, not at it.

As filmmakers, how often do we settle for perspective that’s technically correct but emotionally passive?

• Where’s the camera emotionally?

• Whose experience are we aligning with?

• What would this look like if we shot it as if the audience were inside it, not observing it?

Immersion isn’t about VR.
It’s about choosing a point of view and committing to it like a player would.

4. Momentum Over Mastery

Gamers don’t need perfect graphics to stay hooked.
They need forward motion.

As filmmakers, we can obsess over polish, pacing, and visual “perfection”—but forget to build rhythm.

Rhythm is what makes people stay.

• Not just in editing, but in emotional beats.

• Not just in dialogue, but in silence.

• Not just in movement, but in what’s pulling us forward.

Games understand something we forget:
It doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to keep moving.

5. Invite Your Audience to Play, Not Just Watch

Even if film isn’t interactive, it can be participatory.

• Create space for interpretation

• Withhold just enough

• Trust that your audience wants to lean in

Not everything has to be solved. Some things should be felt, tracked, explored. Let the story unfold like a level—earned, not explained.

Conclusion: Make the Film Feel Played, Not Just Watched

At Fragrant Film, we’re interested in the felt experience of story.
Not just what it looked like. Not just what happened. But how it moved you—and how much of you it asked for.

Because great films don’t just show you something.
They give you something to hold.
To press.
To decide.

That’s not control and that’s invitation.