Diegesis

Diegesis may concern elements, such as characters, events, and things within the main or primary narrative.

Characters and events may be referred to elsewhere or in historical contexts and are therefore outside the main story; thus, they are presented in an extradiegetic situation.

[citation needed][dubious – discuss] The classical distinction between the diegetic mode and the mimetic mode relates[clarification needed] to the difference between the epos (or epic poetry) and drama.

In terms of classical poetics, the cinema is an epic form[citation needed] that utilizes dramatic elements; this is determined by the technologies of the camera and editing.

Even in a spatially and temporally continuous scene (mimicking the theatrical situation, as it were), the camera chooses for us where to look - and where not to look.

[citation needed] "Diegetic", in the cinema, typically refers to the internal world created by the story that the characters themselves experience and encounter: the narrative "space" that includes all the parts of the story, both those that are and those that are not actually shown on the screen, such as events that have led up to the present action; people who are being talked about; or events that are presumed to have happened elsewhere or at a different time; such as the intro to "Star Wars", with its now classic "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." Thus, elements of a film can be "diegetic" or "non diegetic".

[citation needed] In video games "diegesis" comprises the narrative game world, its characters, objects and actions which can be classified as "intra-diegetic", by both being part of the narration and not breaking the fourth wall.

A noted example of a diegetic interface in video games is that of the Dead Space series, in which the player-character is equipped with an advanced survival suit that projects holographic images to the character within the game's rendering engine that also serve as the game's user-interface to the player to show weapon selection, inventory management, and special actions that can be taken.

The image shows the player's character, Issac Clarke, pointing his weapon at a deformed humanoid. He has a lit cyan "spine" along the back of his space suit, indicating the player has maximum health points.
In the game Dead Space , the colored spine of the player's spacesuit is used to indicate the health points of their character. This is rendered within the environment of the game, as part of the player's character. Ammo, mission updates, and several key menus are also rendered in the game world, which are viewed by the player's character.