As regular readers will know, we’ve recently been playing a number of horror games alongside John Heatz, Kevin from The Mental Attic and V from The Verbal Spew Review and scaring ourselves silly. So what better Kickstarter campaign to back than Ant Carpendale’s Playing With Fear.
Playing with Fear is a documentary feature film and web series dissecting the art, craft and community of horror video games. The project will shine a light on the stories behind the classics we all know and love, the ingenuity of the new harbingers of our digital nightmares, and the speed of technological innovation that has encouraged the genre’s recent increase in popularity – it’s definitely a must for any horror fans out there.
Ant Carpendale’s goal is to make the definitive documentary about the horror genre and the talented people that dedicate their lives to scaring the bejesus out of us. Some truly amazing titles are lined up for inclusion such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Nevermind and Silent Hill, to name just a few. A big thank you to Ant for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions about the campaign and discuss his love of scary games.
How did the team meet and what made you decide to make Playing With Fear?
“I’ve been making shorts, music videos and promos for nearly fifteen years, many of them soundtracked by ace Glaswegian electronica composer Dissolved, who I met online at audio-visual collective TEFOSAV. Dissolved is so prolific, knowledgeable and easy to work with, and was my first choice to score Playing With Fear. He’ll also be co-producing and will help guide the project’s development.
“The third member of my team so far is Dave Packer, a talented animator and film-maker I’ve been working with for several years on comedy and horror projects. He created effects for the live action game homages in the pitch video, and makes an appearance as the Year Walk Brook Horse.
“I’ve been a huge fan of horror games since I was nine, my first addiction being Ant Attack for ZX Spectrum, and have always felt that the genre deserves more appreciation. I decided that a feature-length documentary and web series delving into the development of our favourite horror games would be a great way to show some love.”
Playing With Fear is a documentary feature film dissecting the art, craft and community of horror video games. What do you think it is about that genre that makes it so fascinating to people?
“The best horror games are the ones that hook you in with visceral, unpredictable gameplay, immersing you in a disturbing world and daring you to keep playing. Many of my favourite horror games linger in the mind long after I’ve played them, and some have given me nightmares. I think the appeal of horror is that it can test your resolve and force you to confront your own fears, resulting in a very personal and affecting experience if done right. Horror fans love to test their own limits and feel the jittery excitement that comes from being scared.”
You’ve got interviews with some great people lined up, including developers, designers and audio artists. How easy was it to get people involved and who are you most looking forward to working with?
“I’ve been very lucky to entice so many awesome people to the project who are keen to be interviewed and let us explore their development process. We simply asked the creators of many of our favourite games (and future classics) whether they’d like to be involved, and we got a resounding yes. I was surprised and very pleased Konami agreed to let us include the Silent Hill games – not many people get to document their development, and I’d love to have the opportunity to properly explore that world for fans of the games. I have no favourites among the developers who’ve agreed to appear, they’re all hugely talented and I can’t wait to meet these people and learn more about their amazing games.”
Konami have agreed for Silent Hill to be included in Playing With Fear.
You mention that you’re going to explore how history, legends, literature and folklore have shaped horror gaming. Are you able to tell us about the scariest or weirdest fable you’ve come across in your research so far?
“The Swedish folklore that inspired Simogo’s beautiful iOS game Year Walk is so rich and creepy, including characters like the Brook Horse, an animal that tempts children into riding on its back before jumping into a river and drowning them. I’m also a fan of H P Lovecraft’s classic horror stories, and was pleased to see that they’ve inspired a new game we’ll be looking at – Thomas Busse’s Order Of Dagon. There hasn’t been a good Lovecraft game in aeons, so as a player it’ll be great to explore Innsmouth and encounter some of the characters from Lovecraft’s work, including Dr Herbert West and (judging from Thomas’ enigmatic screenshots) possibly the Great Old One himself, Cthulhu.”
The titles available today are a lot more sophisticated than those we experienced as kids! How do you think the genre has benefited from modern technology and, on the other hand, is there anything you miss from old-school horrors?
“I love horror games old and new, across all formats (including arcade, where I frittered away my pocket money as a kid). Games today are a lot more immersive, with environments that feel more real, and horror that is more intense and unnerving. But I sometimes miss the simplicity of the older games and that sense of fun. Modern horror games, though technically superior, can sometimes take themselves far too seriously. A consistently dark tone in a horror game can be great and often essential for maintaining the atmosphere, but a bit of lightness wouldn’t go amiss sometimes. That said, I think we’re enjoying a renaissance at the moment, thanks to the many brilliant indie horror games that have emerged in recent years. Horror gamers have never had it so good.”
You mention on your Kickstarter page that you’re going to be observing the community at the heart of the survival-horror genre. Why do you think this area of video games has experienced an increase in popularity recently?
“It’s great to see people expressing their love of games in the form of Youtube Let’s Plays, live streams, game jams and conventions. There’s been a huge explosion of interest in the community side of gaming in recent years. Gaming has moved away from being primarily a solitary activity to something that can be enjoyed communally, and horror games can work well in a group setting, so that everyone can enjoy being scared together. There’s also so much creativity amongst horror game cosplayers, modders and artists who celebrate their favourite games in various ways, and I would love to document that as part of the Playing With Fear project.”
Ant Attack looks a bit different to the horror titles we see today!
What has been the scariest horror game you’ve played and why? Was there a particular title that started your love of the genre?
“Ant Attack on the ZX Spectrum in 1983 was my earliest horror gaming experience. It was innovative, unique and tapped into my irrational phobia of ants (I explain more about that in my blog). The horror game that probably effected me the most was Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, a beautiful and endlessly creepy Japanese survival horror, which maintained a sense of dread and loneliness throughout, and uniquely allowed the player to empathise with many of the antagonists – the ghosts of villagers trapped in a deserted village – before dispatching them with the Camera Obscura.”
What challenges have you faced going down the Kickstarter route? Were you prepared for these when starting out?
“I’ve been running the Kickstarter almost single-handed, and although I’d done a lot of research and worked on prepping the campaign for some time, I wasn’t fully prepared for the press and marketing side of things. I’ve been very pleased with the response I’ve had from press and horror game fans, but it’s been a struggle reaching potential backers with limited resources. I’ve learned so much from running this campaign, in terms of what works and what doesn’t. If I’d already shot a number of interviews then I think it would be far easier to convey the style and tone of the project. If I was doing this again I would also hire more graphic designers (my design skills are almost non-existent) and others to help with the PR workload. It also didn’t help that my project ran during two Steam sales and ends a day after Black Friday.”
Can you tell us which component of Playing With Fear you’re currently working on? How are you feeling about its production?
“I’m currently in the pre-production and fundraising stage. With so many fantastic people on board, we should easily have enough material to fill a feature-length documentary and web series, with more besides. Really happy and excited about the games we’ll be able to explore and the people we’ll be able to meet, if we can raise production funds.
“Alas I am unfunded, and we can’t start production unless the Kickstarter campaign succeeds or we can raise financing from other sources. If this Kickstarter fails, we ask that anyone interested in the project follow our Facebook and Twitter feeds to be kept up to date on future developments.”
Do you need any sound effects? We made a gameplay video of Slender: The Arrival recently and Kim did some great screams.
“Send me all your screams and scary sounds! I’ll put them in the film.”
We’ve said Ant can use some of Kim’s screams from our Slender: The Arrival gameplay video!
Thank you once again to Ant – he’s already received our backing and we’ll be sure to send him a link to our gameplay video too! Playing With Fear is an excellent project for anyone who loves horror games and having the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end. So far £14,592 has been received from 244 backers, and there’s still a day on the Kickstarter clock for anyone who wants to help the campaign reach its $25,000 target. Go show them some love (and some screams) and be sure to check out both the Facebook page and Twitter feed.
