Alex, are you here?
 

Al, since nobody else seems to be posting right now, let's discuss the game and some of the more memorable moments....


Do you recall how we got that locket made for us?

Yes, shower us with cool anecdotes, please. The more the merrier. *D

The thing I remember was that the Locket cost us $1600 in 1995. What's that adjusted in today's money (~$2K?)

The maker of the locket was Edgar Harris.

During the production, I can remember a lot of crazy conversation with you, me and Phill. Remember we what we used to call the Booger Conference room?

Would that be this locket?

Who has it now?

Did you have it made specifically for this and is Edgar Harris a locket maker specialist (a locketeer?)? Did you have a design in mind? Who has the locket now?

Ahh, the locket...we needed the prop made in one week, why? I have no idea, but probably because our schedule was in peril, again....

So we found a silversmith in San Rafael who said he could make it for us based on the drawings of conceptual artist Enrique Rivera...it cost $1200 bucks but it's gorgeous. I still have it. In fact, I'm holding it now. Fine piece of craftsmanship. Still beautiful to this day...

You want anectdotes? Just ask....

Any memorable mishaps on the set when you were filming FMV sequences? (Apparently I really like to hear about game developers' misfortunes... :D)

Did anyone on the team have professional film production experience? Were you working with a production company? How were the actor(s)?

I remember reading Roberta Williams' reflections on working with a film crew on Phantasmagoria years ago, and finding it really interesting... kind of like worlds colliding, because she had never worked in that environment before.

-emily

Hey Vin,

we should take a meeting down there. Guess what - Frank and Rhonda still work there. (no last names mentioned).

FIRST, I have the locket. Right here in my pretty little hands. (did I just say pretty?)

We actually came from a TV and film production background, so it wasn't the two worlds colliding thing...it all went smoothly, though it was a crazy few weeks. Shooting on the Golden Gate Bridge (illeagally) was hairy. Shooting in the Presidio (which was then patrolled by armed guards wielding M-16's) was also a bit dicey. We had a van and we'd just pull up in front of a location and do three takes and get the hell out of there. The crazy part was shooting the animals...we had never worked with living animals (or dead ones for that matter). That was very tough. Things would die under the hot lights. The only animal that lived (besides the cat) was the bannana slugs. We had a great set builder/designer and a wonderful cameraman/editor (Aaron Strain) who really made the difference. Also, our production manager, Jon Fishman, was a total pro who made the whole shoot run like a Swiss watch. Where is Fishman? I miss the hell out of that guy. VC

Oh my. I didn't realize you shot in San Francisco. (I was assuming the game all took place indoors.) Now I HAVE to play this game!

Are the locations recognizable? Maybe I'll rope my boyfriend into playing with me. He loves recognizing San Francisco landmarks... and in our house he's the one who kills the bugs. :D

-emily

I still have all the location scouting footage in Hi-8. Phill and I viewed a bunch of the stuff when working on the Making of segment. Some of the stuff is pre-SBC Park.

Hey Vin, I was just down by the Philips Building last week. Everything else is gone. Our window offices now overlook a bunch of new construction.