Sam Barlow's latest title, Immortality, challenges the boundaries between film and video games by using live-action footage (FMV) as its primary visual medium. Far from being a simple interactive movie, the work relies on the Unity engine to apply advanced post-processing that simulates 35mm and 16mm celluloid emulsions. This approach not only gives the game an authentic filmic texture but also turns the experience into a visual narrative laboratory where every frame is a clue.
Technical Post-Processing: From Davinci Resolve to Real-Time Unity 🎬
The creative process behind Immortality demonstrates a perfect synergy between traditional cinematographic workflow and video game technology. The team used Final Cut Pro for editing the footage and Davinci Resolve for digital color grading, where specific color curves and grain were applied to emulate the look of 1970s films. Subsequently, these adjustments were integrated into Unity through custom shaders that replicate color shifts and celluloid texture in real time. The result is a look that subtly changes depending on the scene, breaking the usual digital coldness and immersing the player in an aesthetic of lost archives.
The Invisible Narrative of Sound and Emulsion 🎧
Beyond the visual, the sound design created in Logic Pro acts as a silent narrator. Dialogues were treated with equalizers that simulate period microphones, while ambient sounds incorporate analog distortion and tape noise. This auditory layer, combined with the grain of the 16mm emulsion, generates a sense of documentary authenticity that reinforces the mystery plot. In Immortality, post-processing is not a technical ornament but the vehicle that transports the player to a forgotten film archive, demonstrating that technique in service of narrative is the true protagonist.
Can the concept of cinematic authorship be transferred to the design of a video game like Immortality, or is it the player who rewrites the narrative by manipulating the classic footage?
(PS: Previs in film is like a storyboard, but with more possibilities for the director to change their mind.)