Film 96 The Darkening featurette

Film 96 The Darkening featurette
Production	Privateer 2: The Darkening
Type	Behind the Scenes
Run Time	3m31s
Date	February 12, 1996

Film 96 The Darkening featurette is a featurette about the making of Privateer 2: The Darkening that was broadcast as part of Film 96 on February 12, 1996.

• Download: Film_96_Report_-_The_Darkening.mp4

Transcript

ANCHOR: But now there's a new trend in the movies: a development in interactive CD-ROMs that lets you the audience decide how the story will end. Very soon we'll be able to see how this works in The Darkening which blends film technology and the latest computer software. Kirsty Young went to Pinewood Studios to investigate.

KRISTY YOUNG: The Darkening is a science fiction adventure story. Clive Owen loses his memory in the crash of his spaceship and has to embark on a journey to discover his own identity. Stars making cameo appearances include John Hurt and Christopher Walken. You won't however get to see it in the cinemas on video or even on television. The Darkening is set to be released in May. It's one of the most ambitious of a series of new interactive movies. This new genre is watched, or more accurately played, on personal computers.

STEVE HILLIKER: The interaction between, you know, like, computer game and film technology, you know, that they're coming together and before they were quite alien, you know, like, you never put those two two industries together and it's quite amazing that now they're, you know, they're actually joining forces and we're learning from each because it's such a new medium. I think it's very difficult to describe it unless you know something about computers. I mean, that's the problem, it's a film and a computer game.

KRISTY YOUNG: Computer graphics and filmed material are combined to produce something in which the viewer is a participant within the scene. At various stages within the movie you're presented with options which will determine the path of the story. At other points there are more traditional computer game elements but once again decisions made here will have consequences for the outcome of the plot.

PETER HIGGINS: The question of whether or not it's just just a game and, and we shouldn't really be involved in it within the film industry is an interesting one because it's, um, it's whether or not we remain luddites in the business and we can't afford to be. It's um it is, it is a growing industry, um, with growing sales and, um, we have to run alongside it we can't reject it.

CHRISTOPHER WALKEN: One hears so much now about the information highway and interactive software and internet and it's obviously gonna be very important in the future. It just strikes me as something that's coming and it seemed a good idea to be doing it in the beginning.

JOHN HURT: The possibilities are just enormous. I think we've always known that in the back of our heads that in the end however romantic it may seem, um, celluloid is going to become somewhat old hat and certainly when you when you start looking at the the achievements of electronics in the in the last few years we're at the bottom of the graph of this extraordinarily fast moving evolving thing it would be difficult to imagine where it's going.

STEVE HILLIKER: But the other thing, you know, which is really exciting is that the big screen interactive cinema which is now, uh, beginning to happen and I think you have choices like one and two and stuff. You can imagine what's gonna happen can you: "choice one, no it should be choice two" and imagine the fights that are breaking out people throwing things at the screen, pretty wacky.

ANCHOR: The darkening will be available in the autumn.