- A script that remains true to the original material. We're talking about pleasing fans, not remaking the story. If the project is fan-funded, it will be made to please fans, simple as that, not some "re-imagining" of the concept. At 90-120 minutes, I can see a 6-hour adventure game fitting entirely within the scope of a film script. Plus it saves me the hassle of reinventing the wheel: the game's already got a great script with three distinct acts.
- Talented actors. The beauty of Snatcher was the character immersion, which won't happen if we're using our friends and family as the main players. We'd hire some good talent to make the story work, make them all watch the game, and get it as authentic as possible.
- Amazing action. The game's not heavy on action, but it has to be pristine, and action is one of my strong suits. I'm imagining something along the lines of History of Violence, where there's some action, and all of it is exceptionally good.
- Top-of-the-line special effects. Heads breaking open, decapitated bodies, the dead dog, squibs, explosions, and muzzle flashes or blanks. It's all gotta look authentic, again not like high school kids did it, and I'd rather go practical on as much as possible, rather than reaching for After FX for everything.
- Accurate production design. This is the most expensive and daunting task of recreating the Snatcher world. We need:
- An effects team for transforming a city into Neo Kobe, not an easy task. Times Square might make a good template for where Gillian meets Napoleon, plus outside Outer Heaven.
Prop design for the Turbocycle, blaster, and Metal Gear, along with all the other fun goods from the game.
CG or stop motion (which is hip now, plus I know some animators from Coraline) for the Snatcher
Locations, locations, locations. Junker HQ is a huge chunk of the story, and it's arguably the most high-tech location, along with the hospital and the final Snatcher lair. Finding these locations and making them look true to the game will be the bulk of the production budget
- The other stuff: a good music score (crowd-sourced? perhaps), PR campaign (game conventions, retro game mags, sci-fi media channels, celebrity hype, etc.), and distribution if it goes beyond the crowd funders, but this is not the goal. The goal is providing fans with the best Snatcher-like experience possible, not providing the mass market some tame, watered-down, PG-13 version.
Would like to hear all your thoughts. Are there similar plans in the making? All I know is a guy who's developing a Crysis plugin, but other than that I know of no efforts to make Snatcher into fan art. We won't look to Hollywood for this because either 1) they'd turn it down since it wouldn't be marketable enough or 2) they'd butcher it. Who knows, maybe Kojima could catch wind of it and sanction the thing like he did with Sdatcher.
Thanks everyone, looking forward to hearing from you.
Here are my credentials;
Our 13-minute detective action-drama (made for no budget), starring me: http://vimeo.com/27534105
The Stunt People (action team I founded in 2001)
Trailer to my film Death Grip - full-length 2012 action film, shot for $100,000 (DVD and Blu Ray here)
Knife fight from Death Grip
Hand Over Fist action film with some gunplay in beginning
Our YouTube channel