To get gamers involved with Xbox 360’s Condemned: Criminal Origins before it’s released with the gaming console on November 22, Mekanism, San Francisco, created a prequel online at www.CondemnedGame.com. There, visitors can see the events that lead up to the storyline in the haunting game, which is touted as a psychological thriller.
In the game, players take on the role of an FBI agent and track down serial killers. It’s a cross between a horror film and the television show CSI, executive producer at Mekanism Tommy Means explained. Though the non-traditional production company usually works with agencies, this project was client direct via SEGA of America. The request was that Mekanism, who created, produced and directed the prequel as a collective, would develop a Web site that would engage the audience and create a buzz before the game is released.
“The big picture is that this is a young, male audience and they are not watching commercials really so [the client] wanted to create an immersive experience online that’s very story driven and really creepy and intense, and hit them with a new chapter each week to sort of keep them into it leading up to the release of the game,” Means said.
INVESTIGATING THE SCENE
There are six chapters on the site with photographs that indicate the links to each. The story begins when you click on the image for part one–visitors to the site must participate in order for the story to unfold. The tale begins with a ringing phone. To proceed, you must run your mouse over the image and click to answer it. A voice says, “Agent Mallory, we found a body.” The next scene shows moving images that make you feel like you are in a car that is traveling down a street. Clicking on the screen again moves you into a crime scene where a bloody corpse rests.
Means explained that gamers like to explore scenes in the games they play and the interactive nature of this site is meant to appeal to that sensibility. But the hotspots on the site are not hard to find and regardless of where you click, the story will generally progress to the next scene. (Some scenes will have hotspots that take you to different places and then allow you to return to the scene you just left so that you can continue along the main storyline.) The production company decided to keep it simple for those who do not want to go too deeply into a site. “It’s been really fun, as directors here, to figure out this whole non-linear storytelling,” Means remarked.
GHASTLY IMAGES
Mekanism shot original footage for the site at the Presidio in San Francisco, a former military post that is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Means described the abandoned buildings as some of the creepiest places one could ever see and quite film friendly. “I get the feeling people hadn’t opened the doors to these buildings in ten years — it made a really nice visual segue into the actual game because the actual game has really wild visuals too.”
There isn’t any crossover between characters in the prequel and those in the game, so Mekanism was free to cast for the story they developed without reference to the characters in the game. They did, however, try to create an environment that was consistent with the look of the game and, of course, the story online had to flow into the story in the game.
“We looked at other horror films, we watched a lot of John Carpenter’s Halloween, which could be the scariest horror film ever. It’s not about what you see, but it’s about what you don’t see and it’s all about that tension,” Means related. “So it was fun making films that were all about tension and using sound design in unique ways to drive that tension.” The team also studied Silence of the Lambs and researched profiles of real serial killers like the recent BTK murderer. Freelancer Jeremiah Moore was the sound designer.
After filming the live action, editor and site designer Conor McCann of Mekanism cut the footage with Final Cut Pro. The effects were done in After Effects and then the footage was put into Flash. The result is surprisingly enticing. “That’s the beauty of Flash now,” Means explained. “When you want to put video on the Web you don’t have to make it a QuickTime or a Windows Media or a Real file, you can just embed the video right into Flash, so it makes the experience of watching and interacting with video really seamless.”
Print ads through Duncan Channon, San Rafael, Calif., are driving traffic to the site. For example, the print ads offer the clue “57.” People can then type that number into the password section of the site to unlock more information about the story and characters. Mekanism created banner ads for the campaign.
Though Mekanism does create spots, they look to tell stories outside of that format. In-house directors at the shop shoot film and video, but are also often adept at cutting, effects and animation. Means, who specializes in live action, said he feels the shop is at its best when everyone works together, but he noted, “We’re trying to build directors here who can do it all.”