RND/ To consider Her Story.
Part of the Hypertography One Exhibit
breaking ir story by sam barlow
important thing as respect honesty appropriate listening / power / responsibility of negative / positive thinking
– jeremy douglass talking about aisle by sam barlow
consider ir story by sam barlow mostly non problematic ideological sandbox of mr barlows ideas surrounding witness testimony in modern research context
portions of x critique remixed copy pasta from mr barlows site
update note/ two gracious blogging pingbacks from sam barlow to robert what now missing/ wonder if x involved strictly fiscal calculations as not to muddy waters in resarc consumer minds regarding quote correct / standard play space industry readings of ir story
first ping was response to / about ir story being ballardian – which n now turns out n not remotely
second ping concerned research throwing out kitchen sink – to say not appealing to false myths of quote removing all excess -ideological research baggage / therefore leaving sum quote pure mythic quote essence of research -splash n all over
so what might ir story express – apart from little remotely threatening
to consider ir story – research play from sam barlow creator -specifically writer / designer of silent hill shattered memories / aisle interactive fiction – crime play with quote non linear storytelling revolving around police database full of live video footage
n stars viva seifert – potential actress / one half of awkwardly talented band joe gideon / shark
play space exists currently on steam but not let x put anyone off
how does ir story work – ir story grants resarcs access to police database of crappy archived vhs video covering seven dull interviews from quote 94 – sum thoroughly quote british/tm woman interviewed by detectives about simon ir bland missing husband
resarcs take on role of poor temp sat before computer terminal
ir just type search queries / database returns clips of answers where woman speaks words with stilted / unnatural affectation
sam barlow states if ir google ir able to play ir story/ barely mechanic of searching for clips in database so simple anyone can pick up / play
mechanic however also reveals ideology of alleged richness / complexity – x at times n actually feel like ir engaged in genuine dialogue with x woman / ir story/ yet – just like google / loltube search results n spews forth mindlessly / automatically – x non unique way to interact with bog standard narrative uninteresting way of viewing under stimulating monotonous / largely tame narratives – yet something apparently only performable interactively
referring to use of live action video – anomaly in modern research – barlow accidentally suggests play space aesthetic result of overrated amerikan nonsense meets low budget cheese fest
also note how too much talk of aesthetics/r nowadays masquerades as conceptual depth of meaning
while mr barlow no doubt interested in showing quote accessible technologies such as video offer powerful way for indie research to showcase performance x doubtful whether resarcs or developers able to see x without first having read ir stated intentions – though what weasel -marketing words such as quote accessible / quote powerful mean exactly feel as yet unknown
as for quote performance – perhaps what more truly being performed in/as ir story seem sam barlows ideas about what ey considers -thinks x all about or should be – to say/ meta research space about how resarcs should quote correctly regard x play seems as important
test/ give play to resarc quote blind – without ey reading -into any of surrounding marketing blurb – see what ir make of n/ in short resarcs should feel wary of developer texts about research as ir might make up truer bulk of play ir think as actually being played
indeed tweets by developer readable as suggesting whatever press has to say about what ir think about play holds far more interest / meaning than ideas of developer elves – hardly philosophical confidence inspiring sentiment
putting play developers commercial spotlight on vile modern phenomena of loltube jury – in which police forces distribute footage of intimate suspect interviews for armchair detectives to dissect surrounding jodi arias / amanda knox – real life cases where suspects stories get lost amongst text of cliches / unexamined cultural prejudices x such videos violently elicit through ir gaze – feels acutely problematic
perhaps one should carefully examine which particular sides of sandbox of difficult issues entitled ir story play developer barlow stands – how exactly ir story equals quote serious research space directly tied to criminally voyeuristic public ocular flogging of women – andor exists merely as just another bloodless electronic triviality showcasing privileged developers male cleverness/ just how serious sam barlow suggests resarcs take / read apparent seriousness of ir play space
ir story shares many touchstones with barlows earlier research play
x apparently non linear delivery reminiscent of fragmented narrative of ir quote cult text play aisle which also featured simple text interface x led to apparently quote hidden depths
such vhs aesthetic/r familiar from -award winning silent hill shattered memories – use of police interview setting in ir story -barely recalling psychiatric interviews from / by now long obsolete research space
resarcs should also note play spaces bizarrely headless female torso shot -with hint of cleavage – used as header image on sam barlows twitter account – another woman without voice reduced to object
yet mr barlow states in tweet below x ir play space main mechanic uses listening/ exactly what kind of quote listening happens in ir story perhaps realer question for resarcs to ask
update patch laughable review from play/tm mag who gave ir story 9/10
stunning realization of what narrative can eb
– hardly/ what appears uncertain in all x excitement – precisely why so many garme jurnalizts seem to – in casual internets parlance – ride mr barlows nuts
one answer/ x just another elf back slapping industry showcase
update patch 2/ ir story belongs to ir – remix of astoundingly predictable research play industry fluff peice over at guardian
sam barlow wanted to make quote new kind of police procedural mystery so ey quit ir job read interrogation manuals / created one of most interesting research of last five years – at least according to back slapping bourgeois lifestylers at guardian
note/ no spoilers exist for ir story in article as very little of interest exists to spoil
when sam barlow was working at climax studios in portsmouth helping to design survival horror franchise iteration silent hill shattered memories ey would get home at night / tinker with couple of screenplay projects
ir were just exercise way to write about things x ey not in ir day job
but then one night ey realized something – both scripts were about man with pinkywhite skin just ambling along quite happy in ir middling life until mild cataclysmic event changes quote everything
to consider as precisely quote man narrative which presides over ir story
ey was like quote oh right ey sending message to elf ey says
ey realized ey needed impetus to leave company / quote go indie
ey was writing x stuff to tell x to elf
– yeah/ perhaps in same way sites like guardian write fluff pieces to tell elves what meaning ir scrawl expresses
like millions of others ey toyed with sum bad play idea – in x case sum kind of police procedural thriller – x genre flourished on television / in crime fiction like herpes but thankfully still seems under explored in research play space industry
inspired by gritty/r shows like homicide life on streets / fascinated by awful quote interactive movie boom of early 90s when developers explored use of video footage in research ey started to think of way to combine these suspect elements
but ey knew ey didnt want to develop idea at studio ey didnt want sum big budget 3d action adventure – ey wanted to experiment with form
ey needed to leave
having saved up bit of cash to support small scale project for year x exactly what ey did
good for ir – only none of n has anything remotely to do with jg ballard
when ey started ir story ey spent lot of early development time just thinking ey says
ey sat in ey garden staring into sky with notebook in ey hand / cracked ceramic mug of malibu in other
ey think x helped ey come up with lot of interesting angles in research space – almost like x tells anyone anything about anything – gee wizz staring into sky waiting for artistic inspiration like sum future genius auteur what succulent / convenient crock of myth
what ey didnt do was watch endless police procedural movies / interrogation scenes for inspiration
– one wishes ey had
research so important barlow says
if ir ideas coming from movies x often problematic
ratist has already gone out into world / compressed lot of information to create film
if x ir sole influence ir simply adding more compression
– which of course seems nonsense/ what too much quote compression/ bad dvd rips found on dodgy torrent sites perhaps/ what heavy handed opposite – expansion maybe
instead ey started reading interrogation text books books intended to teach police detectives / security personal how to garner information from suspects
how x quite matches / scans with what sam says next about academic research seems interesting as academics tend to categorize break things down – come up with systems of reference ey says
ir dig down into systemic layer of stuff
x gives ir fresh insight new way of looking at things
vocational manuals written by people with deep knowledge / understanding real world examples step by step guides x different perspective full of information / ideas
– x feels like information content zero / plain conceptual obfuscation
ey didnt want to watch bunch of crappy tv shows / cheesy movies for no decent reason – but then also uncritically academic research process as sum inherently elevated ontological method in which simply digging into quote stuff instantly provides one with deep knowledge / understanding
what ey learned was x detectives not just listen to suspects narrative ey pick up on use of certain pronouns / tenses/ ir use psychological elements of story telling to apparently discover sum quote extra layer of truth / detail in grammar / cadence of interview
ey started to wonder about how one could explore x in glorified fmv movie to flog on steam for £4 p99 – barlow also noticed something else while -ironically watching loltube videos of quote real interrogations
suspects often seem weirdly comfortable with opening up – ir intimate in way ir often not in closest relationships
before war ey grandmother was singer / photos exist of ir – beautiful glamorous star of stage – but ey knew ir as dinner lady says barlow
ey was painfully aware of way families exist / way people of older generation act – ey not really sit down / ask ir to talk about such stuff
perhaps what weird – how resarcs / developers seem too often weirdly comfortable with developing / playing quote x stuff with stories of women – with letting men tell ir stories
but then ey saw how police interview room often becomes place where people just tell ir life stories – x what cop wants – ey wants open questions / ey wants ey to talk / talk / reveal elves
x so weird how intimate / personal these stories seem even in x very cold formal setting where detective essentially there to arrest ey
in background x awfulness of fact x with people in ey family ey not able to sit there / be detective / actually get all x interesting detail / hear ir stories
lot of details in ir story exist directly taken from stuff ey know or have kind of imagined about people at different generations of ey family
– which sound nice but connection to jg ballard remains puzzling
rather ir story can be read as uncritical play about state sanctioned interrogation but also about how ir give elves away to video space hack journos hired by major ir masters voice news sites – those little tics of journalistic personality / character revealed through gestures / repetitive words like quote rat
x play about identity of video research equals rat dammit – as public performance of culture
what ir merely see when booting up sams insipid program however – simply clips of police interview with mildly bad actress captured over series of days
ey may or may not murder ir role but n equals resarcs unspoken role as anonymous -ballardian extension of police computer system – computer system of policing – to search video fragments / discover quote truth
interface effectively just search bar – ir input words x may or may not bring up fresh video segments/ ir watch clips/ ir try to pick up on clues / possible search angles then type in new words
such play recreates bad 90s windows pc desktop even reflecting fictitious light source from mothers basement – disorientating trick layering of artificial reality on existing reality of artifice luring resarc into environment x as both familiar / sinister – environment called research – but still where might ballard exist in such play
as limp structural conceit n feels modern perfect interface for google generation -whoever ir might represent – but barlow says influence older quote deeper / certainly more culturally savvy – thus more likely to get mentioned in guardian
ey re read lot of jg ballards short stories on toilet each morning before writing ir story barlow says
ballard was riffing on 60s avant garde ideas – stories full of narrative gimmicks
one of foremost inner scifi writers ever seen / ballard apparently just quote riffing off cheap narrative gimmicks of other writers from 60s
well x one way of seeing ir
one expresses though index of fictional autobiography – story told via series of vignettes x ir supposed to shuffle like pack of cards
ballard directed readers of atrocity exhibition to flip through pages until ir found interesting paragraph / then read around n for more information
x blew ey mind n tapped into idea of what ir story was becoming – x idea of audience as active participant surfing story looking for particular words or phrases x capture ir attention then diving in / leading ir own path through story
such lovely idea – fusion of writing / reading sparked something in ey head
– big deal
in which sam not only seems to display fundamental under reading / misreading of what ballard was exploring in / via atrocity exhibition but also merely bland pseudo revelation about drab way ey wanted to present bad narrative/ by simply writing script / then chopping n up storing snippets in database tagging chunks with specific keywords – process already practised using transcripts from genuine police interrogations
other than merely mentioning ir name in interview which expresses approximately sweet fa about jg ballard
note how ballard did not quote cut up ir work but rather viewed hyperreal modern reality as constant nonlinear explosion of sharp media fragments
quote story of atrocity exhibition emerges from -non neutral neural process of pattern recognition / misrecognition – maze of continually fading traces vague inferences – red herrings dead ends / signs of passing
note how such process occur within with conceptual confines of / directly informed / tinted by / mediated via psychopathological culture – in no way explored by ir story
in which ballard as not mere drained swimming pool or dead astronaut – coded features of ballardian landscape not mere signposts instantly / automatically highlighting existence of ballardian for dim passing tourists but very visual language needed to begin to discuss / explore ballardian
ir seem more waypoints portals – not just mere roadside attractions on sum cheap narrative holiday for hacky writers
irony of ir story – how story / sociocultural background context of female suspect never actually gets told because male policing gaze of technological interface exists as main dominating narrative
in which ir story more actually about how female stories are supressed framed controlled stifled inherently misunderstood from limited -sociocultural worldview
note how women play distinctly secondary roles in fictional spaces of ballard
x seems due to ballards plain sexism / also ir deliberate statement about / approach to technological blandscape – inerently quote sexual / sexualized – violent corpse energized with strange notions about technological – x these aspects not easily separated seems highly ballardian
sam brought in actor viva seifert whod already worked with on climax project legacy of kain dead sun before n was canned
for filming process barlow hired cubicle in council building in truro to represent interrogation room
ey cued seifert in by asking questions elf – ir never hear ey in play just as ir never see interrogators elves – x role resarcs gladly take on elves
for look / feel of process barlow actually admit to taking inspiration from one awful movie – basic stinky starring sharon talentless
ey found sum of audition tapes x sharon did before ey was cast barlow says
these sparked so many ideas – ir own crappy video footage badly framed no theatrical immersion no lighting or music ir hair as unkempt camera never cuts
ir performance unrehearsed / expresses rawness
ir so used to tricks of cinema when ir see such footage n feels so much more intimate / real
then ir have paul verhoeven off camera reading police detectives lines / x idea of having policeman removed from scene diminished – set up idea developed in ir story where detective completely removed from experience
– yeah ideologically elf removed
also note how sams discussion of quote rawness x inherent quote honesty seems directly mirrored in ir decision to remove detectives from interrogation scene
one wonders what ey remotely imagines intimate / real mean for ir
basic instinct displays lurid interest in females / murderers which in rough hands of b movies / tabloid media expresses inherently voyeuristic sociopathic fascination
in early stages of development barlow repeatedly watched trial footage of jodi arias who was found guilty of murdering ir boyfriend travis alexander in 2013 – imagine sam in ir research basement conceptually rubbing ir crotch slowly while watching proceedings unfold
legal process has long existed as vast televisual / social media spectacle
woman who kills as ultimate taboo reinforcing false male / societal notions of femininity motherhood / nurture
media coverage as inherent sexism / sexualization with female suspects as wicked seducers
ey was pseudo interested in expectations of women / roles ir have to play says barlow
elements such as having family / birth control have shaped what women can do in society / how ir should behave
x tied in with way people reacted to seeing videos of women murderers / discourse on how ir should act
yeah what about bad play spaces about how people who play bad video research about watching people who voyeuristically react to women on video / in video space
play was released on pc / ios on 24 june – barlow deliberately put n out right after e3 massive mainstream video research conference in los angeles
ir thinking was journalists heading back home would feel bored by big explosions – desperate for something more reflective – maybe ey might welcome playing slow paced procedural
ey launched on wednesday says barlow
then at weekend tale of tales wrote ir thing about how ir play had not sold / ir was like quote oh/ okay
ey thought sum people would hate n but x sum would really get n / x would sell okay / probably build audience over time
even before release however play was attracting interest – derision – for x use of full motion video
concept reminded many of abortive quote interactive movie genre of early nineties when cd rom technology suddenly allowed developers to build research out of movie sequences
result was explosion of titles like night trap sewer shark / double switch – move like straight to video softcore flicks than interactive experiences
but x was also era of experimentation – to say/ cynically trying out more ways to shift product
ir had influx of genres / stories x had never existed in research before barlow says
legal dramas detective stories/ adult themes going on – all x stuff people had struggled to gamify – lot of n made by greasy tv / movie production people in la
ey played terrible play called tender loving care after ey would done shattered memories
n was sort of erotic thriller like one of those shannon tweed channel 5 movies but n had john hurt as psychiatrist
there were all these ideas about psychiatry / weird takes on narrative – all x kind of crazy stuff happening
ey wanted to take x / reappraise n
where ir seem to have crux of problem with ir story – to paraphrase/ all x stuff – about exploiting women / women under media gaze – which industry players struggle to gamify – but which now ir story does successfully
washington post ran first review for ir story
n was positive – as was subsequent verdict from eurogarmer
but n was roller coaster/ sum okay reviews sum bad
ey hope was to break even over six months or something says barlow
then pc resarc gave n 90 percent
immediately there was whole new level of attention not all of n good
n kicked off in comments ey says
there were people saying quote what flock – 90 percent for x shed
there were brilliant comments like quote witcher 3 only got 93 how can n score so close
because of course witcher 3 has npcs side quests combat trees
how can indie play get within three percent of all x
x was tweeted around few journalists
ir got little bit of hot media attention
unfortunately things snowballed
within week of release play hit number two on pc research site steam – only counterstrike was beating n says barlow
then there was editors choice on app store/ oh boy
but of course fact x officially sanctioned research media were successfully selling ir story as quote offbeat experimental title garnering positive coverage meant x was always going to attract very familiar kind of antagonism
there were sum um negative hashtag affiliates who were sharing photoshopped tweet attributed to ey saying quote oh d0g ir story not selling at all
refund rate through roof
where did ey go wrong
n was existential hand wringing session about play doing really badly – bizarre because x not happening / even if play hadnt sold ey wouldve been like know what – ey tried n/ n was interesting even if n didnt work
what quote works sam seems how uncritical -ie cultural assumptions about representation of women / ir true stories – literally sold to marketplace
anyway someone mentioned ey into thread / there were -ironically all these mysogenerds going quote flocking indie dick quote crybaby quote oh hey dude maybe just make better play next time quote make proper play ir arthole no wonder x not selling / all x kind of stuff
n gave ey teeny insight into what n must be like to feel target -would x be female target sam – someone on video in concrete cube full of policing men – now x kind of deadpan non irony might make someone more sensitive pause for real thought – if only ir were remotely aware of n
month after ir story released barlow was able to inform public x play had sold 100000 copies
last month n was awarded three laughable baftas for debut play mobile / handheld / play innovation
what flocking innovation – only in video research industry does slapping together sum badly acted video / calling n notcod simply by comparison viewed as holey innovation
year after sam releases idiots still discuss play space arguing over vapid details
guardian states because of way different people discover / analyze clips in different orders theories can differ wildly – good golly what cosmic revelation / innovative revelation
barlow says ey always meant story to be ambiguous – ey even toyed with dispensing with any sort of formal ending – but then ir story not even express true beginning
all traces of ir story have been whitewashed from frame – worldview which constructed frame elf quietly conveniently forgotten
ey kind of showed n to bunch of people / said quote how would ir feel if there was no ending to x research space ey says
99 percent of ey said quote n would be fine if n was on pedestal in gallery but if x play / ey have bought n ir gonna expect sum closure
because x murder mystery people want sum kind of validation
ir were like quote ey not want play to express definitive ending but ey want permission to walk away because ey not want to sit thinking quote ey done – ey not done but feel unresolved
note how quote ey am done sounds like somehow intellectually jerking to x footage – to x warped view
so ey added in point where play explicitly says to ir quote hey if ir feel like ir finished then ir can be done here / then ir get little twist potentially changing sum of ir thinking about what happening / then kind of cathartic end
someone who plays to x point has to feel satisfied
satisfied yeah – heck why not just pull ir pants back up / smoke cigarette sam/ climax studios indeed
shortly after play was released barlow begin to get calls / emails from capitalist television / media companies – sense x these traditional organisations knew ir had to somehow explore interactive digital formats but didnt know how
ey look at video space even something like gone home / see first person exploration of 3d house / ir like quote ey not see how ey relate to what ir do says barlow
but with ir story ir thought quote ooh/ ey kind of get x
x accessible ir understand what going on / ir can see where godly interactivity/tm comes in
vile result – in which someone as poorly read / conceptually ham fisted / intellectually shallow as barlow – at least as concerning ir story – now cheerfully works with quote innovative media firm interlude as executive creative director
there sam will produce digital short based on classic movie war research as well as new series for companys interactive video platform eko
– urgh/ in which sick inevitability of such progression seems almost predestined
unsurprisingly barlow has not left ir story behind/ in january ey tweeted x there was treatment ready for next play quote spiritual successor with different scenario / character
interesting to see how ey develops concept – how far ey will move from what guardian – guardian of what exactly – laughably calls x fascinatingly minimal interface pffft
ir story looked back to much derided quote interactive movie genre / found in n way of exploring narrative ey been told didnt work
maybe n just works differently – but for whom
as fatedly pathetic summing up of play guardian wraps up ir hack piece with sometimes ir must ask questions about how ir learn from history / whether available footage tells truth or exists as just another story
wow/ x so deep dear guardian ir could almost bass entire torrid video play space based on exploitation of women off of x
in short flock sams story
—
// how to play big science