Mafia: The Old Country - Dev Insights
Mafia: The Old Country - Developer Insights BTS
The Mafia series draws heavily on cinematic influences, so we leaned into that by using rear projection to play out scenes from the game behind the interviewees - akin to a darkened cinema screen. The image was projected onto a black wool curtain which kept the effect subtle and not distracting, while providing some colour, movement and intrigue to the shot. With a super short throw projector and some additional blur to the footage, the result is a deeper looking shot than the reality of the compact filming space.
Filming developer interviews in a way that feels clean yet visually engaging is always a challenge we enjoy. For some time, DoubleJump director Seb had been toying with the idea of using rear projection to add depth and texture to the classic black void aesthetic. This project was the perfect chance to bring that approach to life. Over to you Seb!
“One of the challenges of filming with a busy development team is finding both the time and space to have these conversations on camera but without causing disruption by filming at their desk! To reduce the impact of our interviews on the team at Hangar 13, DoubleJump constructed a blackout filming space near to the Brighton development office. While this provided the privacy and acoustic treatment for a great interview, the shot needed some more flavour…
This approach has a number of advantages over greenscreen, which could have achieved a similar effect. Greenscreen requires crisp, clear light in order to extract the subject from the background, and still has issues with hair, glasses and other reflective surfaces. The practical solution we chose blends our guests with the background in a more gentle manner, with softer focus on the subjects and moodier lighting that suits the tone and visual style of the mafia.”
Pictured is Hangar 13’s Art Director, Steven Noake, mid-interview. We’re particularly fond of how the key light catches and defines that excellent beard. Imagine trying to key THAT on green screen! No thanks.
What a treat to work on such a stunning and highly anticipated game.
"Double Jump provided a perfect example of collaborative creative process between, publisher, developer and agency, The quality of the static and video assets were cost effective without sacrificing on quality, and each project was delivered on time and on budget. I can't recommend them enough for brilliantly creative ideas and support for our product and marketing campaign" - Joey Williams SEGA
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