Writing Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | Edge MagazineNaughty Dog's creative director Amy Hennig on the continuing charm of Nathan Drake.
The Uncharted titles make no attempt to disguise the fact that they are, first and foremost, games. But the uncommonly high standard of writing and performance exhibited by the series draws inevitable comparisons with cinema and television drama. We sat down with Naughty Dog creative director Amy Hennig to discuss the challenge of balancing these two worlds, the importance of script iteration and why you shouldn't be too literal when it comes to film adaptations.
How do go about achieving the level of polish present in Uncharted's storytelling?
I think there are a few factors that allow us to do a good job. One is that Sony gives us the time and the money to do it, and takes it seriously. And Naughty Dog takes stories seriously, too, rather than leaving them as afterthought. So that means we spend a lot of time talking about story, narrative and how we integrate that with the gameplay. And then the other blessing that we can’t forget is that the time we spend with the actors: It's huge. This is a collaborative process that involves revision and improvement. Going through those drafts, having rehearsal time and table reads with the actors, letting them improvise - and get to know their characters over a long period of time, it all contributes to raising the bar.
Would you consider your approach fundamentally different to other developers – have you imported skills or ideas from other media?
I think we’re inspired by movies and television; we look at the writing in other media and think about how games can aspire to be better. Obviously though, we have the constraint that it has to be a fun game – we can’t have scenes that go on and on, or at least we have to have as much as possible happen in-game. I think it’s just about striving for it – it starts from believing it’s important, then spending the time and the money to treat it as important - having that as part of your development culture.
If you were to leave Naughty Dog, do you think you’d be able to achieve the same results elsewhere?
I’m not going anywhere any time soon, believe me - I know a good thing when I see it! But if somebody were to hire me and ask me to replicate what Naughty Dog achieved, I’d have to say, ‘Ok, but you have to realise that there’s a certain amount of expense that goes along with this.†Sony supports Naughty Dog wholeheartedly, both financially and creatively. You can’t do it on a shoestring, unfortunately. We’re learning to do certain things for less than maybe we did originally, but as I said, it takes time with the actors and you have to pay them for their time. The fact that we’re able to run a scene ten times - and have all of the iteration I spoke about before - a lot of developers do not get that in their budgets. It really does come down to that.
Do you feel protective of the game in light of [The Fighter and I Heart Huckabees director] David O. Russel’s impending movie adaptation?
Sure, I think we all feel protective of the franchise, just as the fans do. Uncharted has now been seven years of my life. On the other hand, I understand that film is a different medium to games, and I think if people are too literal about what they think an adaptation ought to be, they’ll probably make a bad film. Part of Uncharted’s charm, when it works, is that we are knowingly playing in that sandbox of movie conventions, especially action adventure movies. And we’re complicit with the audience – we’re in on the joke together, right? If a filmmaker did that, it would be an awful film, because it’s too self-reflexive! So somebody’s got to come in and say, ‘Well, what is it that fundamentally works in this franchise? What’s charming about the characters?’ And then do an adaptation that honours that in spirit without being too literal.
I know a lot of people have been concerned, asking, ‘Do we have the right director, do we have the right writer, what’s going to happen?’ But we’re waiting too. David’s working on his first draft, and we’ll see it when we see it, but you couldn’t ask for a more talented guy. His job is to do a successful film. What I’ve said in the past is, if the guy who made Three Kings wants to make an Uncharted movie, we should be thankful, right? He’s a very creative and talented guy with a lot of his own ideas, but I’d rather have that than somebody who just wants to slavishly make an adaptation and move on. He really cares about it.
You're back b33ch!Gannu said:The E3 trailer was simply kick ass.
This is definitely the next best title I am looking forward to. Thanks for the detailed heads-up spacey!
Gannu said:The E3 trailer was simply kick ass.
This is definitely the next best title I am looking forward to. Thanks for the detailed heads-up spacey!
That sounds a bit blasphemous.. dont u think ? :no:Ethan_Hunt said:Naughty G _ D!
It was a pun.Spacescreamer said:That sounds a bit blasphemous.. dont u think ? :no:
Gannu said:^Drake's appearance is largely based on the stuntman/actor Johnny Knoxville.
Relax spacey. Taking things a bit too serious are we?