Virtual Fools

I had the pleasure of catching up with J.T. Petty at the William and Mary Cans Film Festival showcase of independent horror films. In addition to seeing the low budget slaughter of Amy Lynn Best’s Severe Injuries (2003), I witnessed firsthand the haunting absences and atmospheric chills of J.T.’s first film, Soft for Digging (2001). Since, I’ve had a chance to talk with J.T. about his dual careers as a filmmaker (most recently Miramax’s Mimic 3: Sentinel (2003)) and his work as a writer of video game scripts (ever heard of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell or Pandora Tomorrow - he wrote those). Below is a glimpse into his work, his likes, and his feelings on the workings of video games.

Kevin: What is the essential difference between writing a film script and a game script?

JT: That’s a tricky answer, because we haven’t yet nailed down a format of narrative for videogames. One easy answer, though, is that a game script needs to serve the interactive experience. A lot of the early, “cinematic,” narrative-heavy games like Metal Gear Solid feel stifled to me, they don’t feel like games so much as uncooperative movies. I’m hoping that as videogames evolve, (and films continue to evolve,) they feed off each other but also branch more distinctly into their own forms.

Kevin: What sorts of instructions are you given when told to write a video game script? Are you furnished with something more akin to general guidelines (like they make the mechanics and you make the story) or something more like detailed plot outlines that you fill with dialog?

JT: It changes from game to game. On Splinter Cell, I was given the instruction, “Give us a universe for a third person stealth-action game in a Tom Clancyesque universe.” I came back with the characters and a plot, and collaborated with the team from there. I’m doing a game adapted from a film right now, and that’s a much different process, largely concerned with mapping an existing narrative onto something interactive and objective-based.

Kevin: Splinter Cell is part of the Tom Clancy “universe”: how much of its story is J.T. Petty and how much Tom Clancy? Another appropriate question could be, “Should the Op-Center books be considered Tom Clancy’s or Jeff Rovin’s?”

JT: With Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy pretty much established the rules for what happens in a technothriller, and I was certainly trying to fit the story of SC into a Tom Clancy universe, but he didn’t have any direct input into the story beyond approval. Not sure about Op-Center.

Kevin: From your experiences with Splinter Cell and other games, what have you found to be the relationship between writers, programmers, level-designers and other creative personalities? Is it usually a closely collaborative process? Are any video games made assembly-line style?

JT: There are certainly assembly-line made games. But Ubi Soft (developer on SC) has usually been pretty great at allowing the creative team the space they need to try ideas and experiment until we can come up with something a little innovative. When game design, level design, art direction, and script can truly collaborate, it can be a pretty great creative experience. I think a lot of the thrill comes from trying to find a path through territories without a map, we’re still trying to figure out what’s possible to do with a game.

Kevin: What other video game scripts have you written?

JT: Batman: Vengeance, Tarzan Untamed. I consulted on Prince of Persia, and the sequel that’ll be coming out in a few months. I’m doing a game for EA right now that’ll be out sometime next year.

Kevin: Describe your experience with video games prior to your breaking into the industry…casual gamer, hardcore fan, or something in-between?

JT: Casual gamer. I still find games a pretty unsatisfying experience on the whole.

Kevin: Have you played any of the games you’ve written? Do you experience that sort of weirdness that causes most musicians to never listen to their own music, or are you able to find them as entertaining as intended?

JT: I’ve enjoyed the multiplayer side of Pandora Tomorrow. But I’m usually way too embarrassed by the execution of the story elements within the games.

Kevin: What games are you playing nowadays? What is your all-time favorite game?

JT: To be honest, I don’t play many games. I’ve been fooling around with Medal of Honor recently, but I find myself studying games more than playing them. It’s kind of hard to get wrapped up in them like I can do with movies or books.

Kevin: What is your general impression of the video game industry? How does it differ from the film industry (from both the artist/financer standpoint and from a larger, more general vantage point)? How far away are video games from being considered as works of art?

JT: Film and videogames are both industries, they’re primarily concerned with making money. The biggest difference I would imagine is the amount that’s been established in movies, how standardized so much of the production process has become. But in either case, your creatively subservient to accountants. Videogames are already capable of art, and there have been moments of some games (Half Life, Ico) that I would absolutely give that label.

Kevin: As an undergraduate at New York University, had you considered a Deion Sanders-like career in two different mediums? Do you currently favor film or the video game?

JT: Videogames came along as a pleasant surprise, but I’d hate to leave the industry now. I’ll probably be dividing my time between movies, games, and books until I retire or die. Who’s Deion Sanders?

Kevin: Who are some of your key influences as a writer? As a director?

JT: As a writer- Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy, Roald Dahl, Dashiel Hammett, Joel/Ethan Coen. Um. I just read the Philip Pullman books, fully intend to steal everything I can from them, including Paradise Lost. As a director- Tarkovsky, the Coens, Hitchcock, Hawks, Roeg. Embarrassing question.

Kevin: Your visual style, from what I’ve divined from Soft for Digging and Mimic 3, preferences slow but lucid camera work, the ‘A’ word (atmosphere) and a sort of reservation that makes the grotesque moments feel slightly more surprising. You’ve also mentioned that Andrei Tarkovsky, amongst others, played a part in influencing Soft for Digging. Who are some of your other favorite filmmakers? Have you found their styles to creep into your own, or do you consciously try to break from what you’ve seen them do?

JT: I’m so comfortable stealing from the people I admire. I just try to make sure that I’m stealing instead of borrowing; can’t imagine anything as boring as homage.

Kevin: So far, your two films could both be considered horror films, but of very different sub-genres. What are some of your favorite horror films? Horror filmmakers? Actors? Do you see yourself continuing with the genre, or moving along?

JT: “Horror film actor” is a funny idea. I guess such an animal exists. Poor Robert Englund, probably one of the most talented and type-cast people out there, (more evidence of the lack of imagination in the accountants running the show.) Favorite genre filmmakers- Roeg, Miike, Lodge Kerrigan, Murnau, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Cronenberg, all the usual suspects. I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch. I’m certainly starting from footprints others left.

Kevin: Having worked in both fields, perhaps you can shed light on this perplexing issue: why are video game movies generally so bad?

JT: Because the only games they’ve adapted so far have primarily concerned themselves with tits and zombies. Film producers so far have focused on the easy, genre-heavy elements of games, rather than the encyclopedic universes the videogame creators crafted.

Kevin: Have any juicy on-set tidbits from the production of Mimic 3?

JT: Karl Geary has a prosthetic ear.

Kevin: What projects do you have on the way?

JT: I’ve got a book coming out from Simon & Schuster this May called Clemency Pogue, and another in autumn of ‘06. This game I’m doing for EA will be out late next year. Maybe an illegitimate child in the works somewhere. I just took a job writing a film adaptation of a Graham Masterton novel.

Kevin: Do you find it hard to write for an existing franchise, or is your job made somewhat easier by virtue of the fact that many of the characters and situations that deem inclusion are already fleshed out? If you had the choice, which existing popular culture franchise (any medium) would you write for and why?

JT: I would love to make a film in James Ellroy’s world, maybe a TV series from the Cold Six Thousand series of books would be fun. If the writing’s good, then using somebody else’s pre-created universe is a pleasure.

Kevin: What’re you reading now a-days?

JT: I just finished Amis’ Yellow Dog. Am currently re-reading Peter Pan. The “His Dark Materials” books nearly killed me. And just read Tevis’ Mockingbird, which was unbelievable.

Kevin: Ever been to a Dutch Brothel? Ever written something that alludes to one?

JT: There’s a monologue in Mimic Sentinel that, taking the first letter of each word, spells out the name of my dearest Dutch hooker.

Kevin: What size t-shirt do you wear? (Not a creepy weirdo question, but rather, we’ll send you a Virtual Fools t-shirt at some point in the near future).