Remediating Landscape Photography and Nature Documentary Filmmaking as Eco-Practices in Digital Games

Abstract

The chapter examines how contemporary forms of digital metagaming, specifically in-game photography and recording in-game wildlife documentaries, reenact and reinterpret constitutive practices of earlier environmental movements. The first part of the analysis explores how ingame landscape photography in Red Dead Redemption 2 remediates earlier aesthetic traditions going back to landscape painting. The second part investigates fictional nature documentaries using footage from games like GTA V and Destiny 2, retracing how the focus gradually shifts from nature photography and documentary as (digital) ‘objects’ towards replicable and inclusive practices. To conclude, the chapter briefly reflects on other epistemic ecopractices like the remediation of ‘community gardening’ in games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons during the COVID-19 pandemic.