In a traditional game this is exactly how it's done. Dolphin is a bit different though, because it's an emulator. It is aware that a game is using the GPU, but

In a traditional game this is exactly how it's done. Dolphin is a bit different though, because it's an emulator. It is aware that a game is using the GPU, but isn't aware of the inner workings of each game's logic. Dolphin doesn't know the difference between a cutscene, gameplay, a pre-rendered movie, or a credits sequence. Because of this, it has to be written in a more general manner, so that a game running inside of it can ask it to do anything a Gamecube or Wii would be able to do, and still come up with the right result.