FMV out now on iOS
To celebrate the launch of I Saw Black Clouds on iOS, the director and writer, Ross-McNamee, gives us an insight into the inspiration and motivation behind the FMV interactive psychological thriller. I Saw Black Clouds is also available on PC, Mac, PS4, PS5, Xbox One/X/SX and Nintendo Switch.
I Saw Black Clouds is now available and free to download then £5.99 / $5.99 to unlock the full story on the App Store.
"Our minds see what they want us to see"
Heavily influenced by David Lynch and dramas such as The Sinner, Ross-McNamee concentrates on the complex narrative and performances rather than multiple different endings. "It's more about the emotional experience you encounter when playing the game and how you connect with the characters and the moral choices you make" he says. "It's really interesting what trauma and guilt can do to us and how it can alter our perspective.
I love the idea of blurring lines between fantasy and reality and how characters manifest that in the story. Guilt is a powerful emotion and the twisted pathways our minds can take on the journey to finding some kind of resolution is at the very heart of the game."
Part of the inspiration for I Saw Black Clouds, was based on the Alcasser murders in Spain 1992 along with several similar cases.
Iain Ross McNamee's atmospheric and narrative-focused script builds suspense through its ambiguity and the unstable, delusional psychological state of the characters.
Ross-McNamee commented "I'm really interested in a character's internal struggle and moral conflict. The character of Kristina was crucial to get right as the story is told through her viewpoint, that of a psychologically stressed character. It's her distortion of reality that drives the tension and shock. Kristina is quite a repressed character, someone who appears strong, almost cold on the outside but has some vulnerability on the inside.