Preview/Interview Stolen Life Directed by Peter Rasmussen and Jackie Turnure, 2006 Preview/Interview by Alexander Tait October 30, 2006

Tex Murphy fans rejoice! For so long we have been starved of our hero. And now he’s back...

...almost.

What we do have is a Machinima (“machine cinema”) movie starring Chris Jones in a role with parallels to Tex Murphy. For fans, those of us who downloaded (and saved) the amateur radio theater productions, this is approaching the Tex Murphy pot of gold-getting another Tex Murphy multimedia adventure game.

Machinima is a groundbreaking technique that renders 3D animation in a game engine. This technique allows live action and animated films to have a main location in one piece, which allows continuous filming without needing to cut and changing camera angles on the fly. It allows a small team of filmmakers to make a large production that once would have been impossible.

Following on a 70-minute animated movie called “Killer Robot”, Sydney, Australia-based director, Peter Rasmussen has teamed up with Jackie Turnure to create Nanoflix’s (www.nanoflix.net) latest 3D animated feature, “Stolen Life”.

“We seemed to be in sync from the very start of the production. Typically during the voice record I would move to make a suggestion and before I needed to say anything Jackie had already made it happen. Through the two years of production there has been and easy blurring of roles”.

“Stolen Life” is described as “future noir”-remind anyone of a certain hard-boiled detective? Peter calls it a dark and moody sci-fi detective mystery. Also starring in the film is Australian actress Claudia Black (“Farscape”, “Stargate SG-1”). Peter says “we are close to completing the film. He sees it as a fascinating outcome of the blurring between games and film:

Jackie Turnure, the voice director say, “For me the appeal of the script lies with the clever juxtaposition of a well-worn genre and all its attendant conventions, with an entirely new world. In considering the direction, I aim to find a balance between honoring the conventions of the film noir genre and play with and against these conventions in both the performance and the stylistic look and feel.

“Although the film is 3D animation, the directories approach to the performances is not that different from live action. The back stories of the characters, their motivations, inner conflicts, desires and obstacles will be explored and communicated to the actors. With animation, and especially here where the characters are not human, voice becomes even more important in communicating character. I will be spending a lot of time with the actors getting the tone and performance right, finding the balance between the film noir archetype and a more naturalistic delivery. My goal in directing the voice records is to create entirely dimensional characters, with humanesque needs, desires and motivations, even if embodied by robots”.

The film is about a private investigator, Pi, a machine, that lands on a seemingly uninhabited asteroid some time in the distant future. He has been sent to investigate the unexplained disappearance of a robot on the asteroid. Finding tunnels leading to the underground, he finds the asteroid is a refueling station for interstellar travel long since shut down. He discovers a deactivated robot, Kieru, and determines to extract the truth of what happened hear from what he is being told. Mysterious goings on, a death, cover ups, Pi is driven to get to the bottom of what happened to this ice covered rock. What starts as a straightforward investigation become increasingly fraught with danger...

Peter and Jackie have nothing but adulation for Chris Jones work on “Stolen Life” and his prior work in the Tex Murphy series:

“I did not write his part with him in mind. But when it occurred to me I realized he was perfect. I also had the feeling that being a pioneer of media himself that an independent and ambitious project like this one would appeal to him. I was chuffed to hear that the quality of the script attracted him to the project. It was great to see again how in tune Chris is to the finest details of what the story needs to make it work. The performance that we asked for was demanding but without any discussion he knew why it has to be that way. He’s always been completely in tune with the project and always puts the work first”.

Peter sent voice director and co-producer, Jackie Turnure to Salt Lake City to meet with Chris and record his lines. Peter listened for hours through Skype. Chris’ easygoing nature was one where he was happy to give anything a go: “He’s a natural performer. People who like Chris will like this movie. It’s a detective story-he’s in his element...he takes a serious role and injects it with humor-gives it ‘blood pressure’. And with Claudia, there was sensational chemistry”.

Peter and Jackie are also thrilled with the sound in the movie. The soundscape enhances the voice acting because of the jazz-based soundtrack, courtesy of Philip Johnston (www.philipsjohnston.com): “it combines old school smoky bar film noir with sci-fi. It really draws you into the mix-there’s a balance of elements leaping out of the screen-atmosphere, music, dialog. It all draws you in to the experience”.

First premiered at the Dragoncon sci-fi convention in Atlanta, Georgia (www.dragoncon.org), the movie is in contention at the Machinima Film Festival (www.machinima.com) in New York in November, 2006 and has been nominated for six individual awards: Best Picture, Best Visual Design, Best Voice Acting Performance, Best Virtual Performance, Best Technical Achievement, and Best Original Music. Only seven minutes of footage will be screened at Machinima but it will be shown in its entirety at later film festivals. The Machinima Film Festival will also have a presence in the virtual world of “Second Life”. All the info is at: http://www.rikomatic.com/blog/2006/10/the_machinima_f.html.

Following Machinima, selected clips of the 80-minute film will be screened at the Farscape Convention in Burbank, California (www.creationent.com/cal/farscape.htm). Stolen Life has been entered for competition at the Sundance (www.sundance.org) and Slamdance (www.slamdance.com) festivals in Utah. With Chris Jones based in Salt Lake City, you never know who might actually be at the screenings in Utah... Well, here’s hoping!

Peter has high hopes for the film and its genre:

“I think we are moving in to a new time where it’s possible to make a high quality project for a niche audience like the fans of future noir. Like those that love the special quirks of the Tex Murphy adventures. Stolen Life is quite different from Tex Murphy but I’d like to think it’s as fresh”.

And Peter is optimistic about the future of adventure games:

“Take Half-Life 2. They are going back to storylines. Things could be got right. Games need to be more accessible to players. AI will make a big difference-if players could speak to and be spoken back to in a game, people would be interested in adventure games. There is an appetite for adventure games out there”.

And who knows? If “Stolen Life” is successful, perhaps it may just open the floodgates that will allow another chapter in the Tex Murphy story to be told.

Peter can be contacted by email (raz@zipworld.com.au).

The trailer for “Stolen Life” can be downloaded here: http://www.zipworld.com.au/~raz/nima/SL_Tumb/sl_ss.html.

Stay tune for a review of the movie when it's complete...

Once a distribution deal has been struck information on where to purchase the “Stolen Life” DVD will be at the Nanoflix website.