So I’ve made some very good progress with my film adaptation of Grim Fandango. Having researched the game (in other words played it to death) I’ve got my ideal storyline figured out of how I would imagine the story of Manny Calevera as a film. The game is very much a tribute to film-noir but uses a lot of Mexican folklore and themes and I did not want to remove these elements. The story in Grim Fandango takes place over 4 years and features a lot of interesting locations, characters and things for Manny to do. For a game a lot of this can be stretched out and getting from one part of the plot to another would require a lot of gameplay inbetween, puzzles to solve and tropseing backwards and forwards until you’ve met your goal. It’s hard to picture a lot of these as a film so I’ve had to cut out a lot of the unnecessary quests and concentrate solely on the story but keeping the charm and style of the game. The film follows a similar path but I’ve made a few changes which I think would work quite well as a film. The deadlines looms and I’m looking forward to signing this off.
Last week we were assigned a new task – to write a short drama script. It could be in any medium we wanted so short film, radio piece or theatre. The only thing it had to do was include a museum as the main location or at least involve one. So what better to get inspiration then to make a visit to the museum itself and try to think up some ideas for what it could be. The class arranged to go on a Friday and unfortunately I had to miss it due to travel plans being affected so I had to arrange my own trip. I traveled to the Cardiff Museum in Cathays Park, wondering around aimlessly outside to finish my coffee so I could be let in. Taking a seat in the park, I read some news articles on my phone whilst finishing my coffee, unbeknownst to the chaotic scenes that were taking place right behind me. Fire engines, police cars and an ambulance on standby… what the heck have I just missed?
Turns out a young school lad had made his way up one of the pillars thinking he was the Welsh Spider-man or something. It was very interesting as I had gone to the museum for inspiration and this happens. Well, I couldn’t stand and gawk all day as I was on a schedule so I went in and perused the many areas and rooms of the museum. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened, and what the staff at the museum would think about this. “Never a dull moment, here eh?” One of the staff members made that remark to another. I wondered how often things like this happened at the museum, a place you would normally associate with being quiet and non-eventful. So I figured I would associate my short story with that. I’m still at the preliminary stages but I imagine to take a character and listen to his experiences with working in a museum, showing it up to being a much more exciting place to work than you would imagine. Once I know more I will post an update here but quite excited to try something different and to do it for radio as well.
Finally, I’m working on two new games with my game company, Infamous Quests called Order of the Thorne and Quest for Infamy: Roehm to Ruin. Both are fantasy style adventures, one being more family orientated and the other more mature. You can goto the website link above to find out more about them but I’m looking forward to getting to task with these. Writing for video games is always an interesting but challenge experience.
