Back in the day, everyone talked about the uncanny valley, but not so much anymore. Do you think people are becoming more accepting of virtual actors, or is that something that you've never worried about?
I guess it's a good thing that we don't hear about the uncanny valley. In fact I think we're beyond it. We are currently perfecting a game's visuals, and it will no longer be uncanny. So the next step is artificial intelligence… making characters that are intelligent. That's the next big step.
Your studio has heavily relied upon motion capture, yet many feel that there is no artistry in this approach towards animation.
Well, we obviously disagree. We proceed with the same approach that many classical painters used to. Before Picasso used to do abstract portraits, he mastered his craft, he mastered realistic portraits. And I believe it's the same for 3D. First you have to master realism, and then we can think of doing something else, as in non-realistic characters.
How was it working with Ellen Page? As in, how was it directing her, in the confines of a video games? I don't want to make to many assumptions, but one must assume that given her age that she's perhaps more familiar with the medium, with the concept of acting in a game. As opposed to someone who is not in her generation. Like Willem Dafoe; was the approach any different with him?
Years ago we worked with David Bowie… also, Angelo Badalamenti. And when approaching these individuals, their reactions have always been the same: this is new, and I can be the first among my peers to do something like this. So when it came to Page and Dafoe, age didn't make any difference.
Their attitude was that they wanted to work on what is new, that's what's attractive to them. I think David Bowie, Willem Dafoe, Ellen Page… they're all the same. They're all pioneers.
Then again, if memory serves me correct, Dafoe had worked on a video game perviously…
Yes. But never in this way. So for him, it was the first time, it was really working on a video game, if you know what I mean. Which is what really interested him. He understood the difference between what he had done in the past, and just doing a voice over, and here being truly involved, truly acting.
Many are believe the video game industry is becoming the next Hollywood. Does that notion excite or worry you?
Well, we're concerned with what Hollywood thinks, because we want to work with Hollywood. We need their talents. We need their actors. That's why we went with Ellen Page for Beyond. And i think we're still at that point in which having Ellen Page, having Willem Dafoe, makes a huge difference. Tomorrow, we won't only want to have their acting talents, but their directors, their script writers, their sound composers…
Do you feel the game industry of is not in the same league of Hollywood?
Of course not. Simply because, Hollywood has been around a hundred or something years, they have a far more attractive industry, so far, for these kinds of talents. More so than in the video game industry.
And I believe we have our own talents; fantastic game designers, fantastic… a lot of things. But the true writing talents, the true musical talents, the true acting talents… they are in Hollywood.
