|| S I L E N T H I L L 2 ||
|| M a k i n g O f D V D F A Q ||
|| Written by: Rob McGregor (mcgregorr@xtra.co.nz) ||
|| www.anewblood.com/sosh ||
|| Jan 12 th 2002 ||
|| Version 2 ||
|| No portion of this walkthrough may be reproduced without ||
|| written permission from me. You may contact me at ||
|| mcgregorr@xtra.co.nz for any authorizations, comments, or ||
|| corrections or additions. ||
|| ||
|| If you wish to put this walkthrough on a web site, e-mail ||
|| notification is needed. If you do wish to use this on a page ||
|| in HTML please make sure you tell me before doing so with ||
|| information on how and where it will be used. This document ||
|| may not be sold or used for profit. ||
|| ||
|| This FAQ is not authorized by, endorsed, or associated ||
|| in any way with Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo or any ||
|| associated or affiliated company(ies). This FAQ should not ||
|| be confused with any publication that is distributed or ||
|| authorized by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo or any ||
|| associated or affiliated company(ies). Silent Hill, all ||
|| characters, locations, etc. (c) & TM 1999-2002 by Konami. ||
Welcome to this FAQ on the Making of DVD for Silent Hill 2.
Since the European release at the end of November 2001, lists of questions
(frequently the same ones, thus this FAQ on the matter) have appeared at
numerous SH forums including the ones @ GameFAQ's.
To begin with this document will cover the basics so those wishing to know
more will get their info, and in a short while I will include a transcription
of certain sections included on the DVD. This is again a major task much like
I recently did with the Previous Story of MGS2 so I hope you can be patient
and wait for me to have it ready.
Speaking of MGS2, if this goes well, then I'll look to doing one of the
Making of MGS2 which is due to be included with the PAL version of the game.
Assuming that it will translate well to text like this one did. With the same
team behind it, I'm rather sure it will.
Before you start to read this document you should have at least played through
Silent Hill 2 once, a warning such as this is on the start of the Making Of
and I believe it is still important to say as such here.
Added in the Making of DVD transcript, Biographies, the Castlevania Director
Q&A, and one additional FAQ that came to mind. Thats basically all I can do
for this apart from update with any other questions which come in.
I felt nostelgic and put the S.O.S.H. archive back online, it can be found @
http://www.anewblood.com/sosh
Version 1. 07/01/02
Includes the bear bones of the FAQ, currently lists questions I've seen
frequently as well as ones which came to mind when I thought about being in
the position of someone without the DVD.
(08/01/02 - Additional small changes and fixes...)
|| F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S ||
Here is the current list of FAQ's on the DVD. If you have a question which is
not currently covered here then please send it in to mcgregorr@xtra.co.nz and
I'll cover it as soon as I can.
A. It is what it says it is. The making of Silent Hill 2. The brief
video as well as bonus material give you some indications as how
the game came together over a two-year period, as well a little
in-depth info on each component of the stuff that makes the game
exactly what it is.
The DVD itself came with the PAL version of Silent Hill 2 (released
on the 23/11/01) and was sold separately in Japan under the title
"The Art of Silent Hill 2"
No version was released in the US, and currently there has been no
announcement of Konami doing so (although others and myself originally
expected them to include it with the X-Box re-release of the game
"SH2: Restless Dreams" they did not do so).
Q2. Why wasn't the DVD released in America?
A. There is no real official answer (although some quote the response
about the SH2 disc in a story about the Euro release of MGS2 @ Gamespot
to be the closest thing to a real answer). Some think it's to repay
Europe for the cut down version of Silent Hill, others for the wait,
and some because of the new found profit margin in PAL territories.
Personally I believe it's because it was created by people @ FunTV in
France with the help of Konami Europe and Konami Japan, and is why it
was released in only these areas. But someone will probably bite my
head off for saying that, so I withdraw it. :)
Q3. What will this FAQ cover?
A. Originally I was going to only have it cover short answers to FAQ's
on the DVD (which if anyone has their own questions, I'll be glad to
add them), but I then decided to add a transcript of the meat of the
DVD to the FAQ as well. I decided to do so because most of it works
into being transcribed well, being made of VO or interview material).
Q4. My copy of the Making of DVD won't work.
A. Well... see the answer to Q5 to have it explained.
Q5. I've heard issues about the region compatibility can you explain?
A. The European and Japanese versions of the disc are both Zone 2 DVD's.
The puzzling thing is that, at least for the PAL version, it's marked
as a DVD Rom and not with a Region coding. This caused chaos in
Australia and New Zealand where, while being PAL format also, their
DVD region is Zone 4 instead. This meant all Making Of discs tried to
be played on their PlayStation2's would come up with "This Disc Cannot
Be Played Due To Regional Restrictions"
Why no one at Konami Europe thought about this is beyond me, but the
least they could have done was restrict the disc to either no zone
restriction (a.k.a. Zone Zero) or realized and set it to Zone 2 & 4 to
begin with. Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen with the disc
included with Metal Gear Solid 2.
Q6. I'm in Australia/New Zealand. Where can I get a replacement Z4 DVD?
A. The local distributor is Ozisoft, which is now only based in Australia.
They originally pushed a Press Release on the website "GameNation"
(www.gamenation.com.au), which is the site listed on that bright and
ugly green sticker plasted on the front of your Silent Hill 2 slipcase.
The PR originally said that by ringing a phone number (1800 833 311)
and leaving your details you'd be sent a replacement "before December
25th 2001." However I've had my run-ins with Ozisoft in the past so
when they announced to have the replacements by this date I said "Ha,
I'll try a month or two later"
Here is the URL to the original PR @ GameNation:
http://gamenation.com.au/news/?action=view&id=55
So far as I've heard they are yet to sent out replacements, as I
expected. If you have rang up this number and Ozisoft has finally sent
your copy please contact me so I can update this guide with the
information.
As for if your in New Zealand, check back with the store which you
brought it from for information. If they don't know what you're talking
about, ask them to check any archived info faxes from around November
28th-31st or to contact their stock buyers or head office. They are sure
to find the details eventually (although the copy of the info fax I
received said the Z4 replacements would arrive "within two weeks" from
the release date. As if.)
Q7. Does this problem effect the game and is their anything else I can do
to get the Making Of to work?
A. No, the game will work as it should. It is only PAL formatted and not
coded to a DVD region. As for alternative means of watching the DVD,
if you can access a multi-region DVD player then the DVD will work on
it. Or if you have a "Region-X Key" which allows you to play DVD's from
anywhere on your PS2 then it will work also. I'm currently using the
latter to view the DVD.
It's also possible to also run the DVD on your computer. It doesn't
seem that there is any additional DVD Rom content accessible through the
startup (apart from an auto link to konami-europe.com), but I was hoping
there could be some CG artwork or some such on the disc. It doesn't
however seem that this is the case... I wish it was.
Q8. What is the basic contents of the Making Of DVD?
A. The DVD is split up into these sections:
- The Making Of Silent Hill 2
This is the Main Feature, and runs for approx. 30 mins.
- Trailers
A selection of both Silent Hill 2 and other Konami title trailers
for the PlayStation 2. Some new, some old.
- Art Gallery
A slow image swapping gallery of artwork, CG stills, and so forth
shown while the Silent Hill 2 music track "Theme of Laura" plays.
Most of this is shown in the making of anyway. This also self plays
if the DVD is left alone on any of the menus for a short while.
- Biographies
Information about the main members of the SH2 design team.
- Credits
A list of the credits for those who put together the DVD.
Q9. Why is James' Actor not talked about/why is his face blurred?
A. Much like Brad Renfro is to the Biohazard 2 commercial, "Guy Cihi" is to
Silent Hill 2. Due to him not wishing to be publicly shown (maybe
thinking his rep will be tarnished, or not signing a release) he has not
agreed to be shown clearly (thus the blur factor) or really mentioned in
the DVD.
Q10. What extras are on the DVD?
A. There is two lots of bonus content on the DVD, and both are easy to
find. One is highly interesting the other highly silly.
- Castlevania Chronicles - Director Interview
- "Silent Hill 2 Event Juillet 2001" - Odd Promo Event
To access the Castlevania Interview you need to press up on the main
menu screen, this will make Laura's face in the background go red.
Select it like you would any other option and you'll be taken to the
intro. to the Interview.
To access the Promo Event, go into the Biography section and again press
up. This will make the Silent Hill 2 logo in the middle turn red, which
you can then select to play the video. A shame you can't make much sense
of it though... :)
Q11. Which trailers are included?
A. The following PlayStation 2 Konami Game trailers are listed
- Age Of Empires
Personally I'm still surprised to see it finally arrived seeing as it
was announced in like what... 1999? The game is now out.
- Metal Gear Solid 2
The trailer on here is the E3 2001 trailer-Japanese Subs still of
course. I was hoping for a new 'Euro' trailer, even if it was an edit
of earlier trailers... oh well. The game is due out in PAL areas
March 8th 2002.
- Pro Evolution Soccer
Seeing as I'm not a soccer fan I have no idea if this is a new trailer
or not, but my guess is it was shown at the ECTS if it was shown
before. The game was due out at the same time as SH2, and although
while I think it was briefly delayed, it did release shortly after.
- Shadows of Memories
This is the trailer from the Spring 2000 TGS redone for the E3 for the
game of a thousand names. A nice PS2 title that was sadly underrated
by lots of people IMO. Was released in the early part of 2001.
- Silent Hill 2: E3
This was the E3 2001 trailer. Shows various parts of the game as well
some parts not from the game.
- Silent Hill 2: Tokyo Games Show
The TGS trailer from the Winter 2001 TGS... I think. May have been the
Spring TGS just before the games release, but I don't think so. Again
there are a few things in the trailer not from the final game.
- Silent Hill 2: Press Event
A remix of both sound and vision for the European release. Personally
I didn't like it too much, others may differ. It's just however
visually a mix of both gameplay footage and early trailers put
together.
- Silent Scope 2
I'm not sure where this is from either, but Konami seems to me have
tried to make it look like a James Bond style game with a Sniper Rifle
with this trailer. Although it's not... :)
- X Games Skateboarding
A short clip of Konami's entry into the world of Skateboading. Looks
to control like THPS but hardly meets the graphical levels of THPS3.
- Zone Of The Enders
This is both TGS Spring 2000 Trailers combined as one trailer.
Although you've probably already played this one, especially if you
wanted the MGS2 demo that came with it :)
Q12. There is [this scene] in the [certain] Silent Hill 2 trailer but I
didn't see it in the game though. What's up with that?
A. Much like the opener video that runs when you leave the controller alone
on the games title screen, there is a lot of scenes in the various
trailers that did not appear. Some were just for the promotion videos,
others could have been from earlier builds, just never intended to be
used, and so forth.
Q13. Is there anywhere I can see parts of the DVD online?
A. Various versions of the Silent Hill 2 Trailers on the DVD can be found
at GamespotVideogames (www.videogames.com), PS2IGN (ps2.ign.com -
although with their Insider cutbacks I'm sure there will be
restrictions as to what you can download), and the Konami Tokyo
website's SH2 page (Japanese version of the page IIRC -
www.konamityo.com).
A brief clip of the Making Of can be found at the European Silent Hill 2
website (www.silenthill2.de) as well as the E3 trailer in a poor format.
If you have the ability to make a video capture of the DVD and either
already have it online or are looking for a place to put it online
please contact me, I know exactly where it can be hosted, and would like
to add a link in this file for the making of online.
Q14. Is [insert topic] talked about in the DVD?
A. While I'd like to answer every specific question, the amount of work can
be cut down if I just give an overall transcript of the Making Of DVD.
Because the video actually works on two levels (a visual and an audio
level) I can give the audio which is all talking, and give you some
brief descriptions of anything on screen of particular importance.
See the Direct Content section below for the transcript.
Q15. What is up with that bonus video with the crazy nurses and the guys
running around the house hidden on the DVD.
A. Because I was as confused as everyone else, I asked some friends from
France for help to explain what I'd just seen. "Wesker" from Biohazard
France (www.biohazardfrance.com) was nice enough to make a list of
notes about this for me.
- FunTV didn't exactly cover this as they normally do for TV, but still
managed to snag better exclusive rights to video it (probably because
of the making of DVD deal). This also blocked other some other game
related TV from being allowed to do a similar thing. Although the
links that Evil gave me (which are below) do show others filmed the
event. Just seems some press weren't informed.
- The event was for journalists from various videogame magazines who
were invited by Konami for a special event for Silent Hill 2, that
would last two days. However they wouldn't know where they were going.
- They met somewhere near Paris and then all taken by "soldiers" and
"mad nurses" by truck at first, to a location, and then into a
mansion (this is what is happening on the DVD).
- At the mansion they met some of the staff of SH2 who'd redesigned the
areas of the mansion with gore and so forth, talk to and interview
the staff, play a short demo of SH2 (and apparently play some
paintball from what is shown at the end).
Evil provided me with these links to another site with images and
video of the event. It's in French as well, but the links to the media
are clear enough :)
- Part 1 - http://www.overgames.com/page/article.asp?artic_id=14297
- Part 2 - http://www.overgames.com/page/article.asp?artic_id=14321
- Part 3 - http://www.overgames.com/page/article.asp?artic_id=14350
- Part 4 - http://www.overgames.com/page/article.asp?artic_id=14382
- Video 1 - http://www.overgames.com/page/article.asp?artic_id=14503
- Video 2 - http://www.overgames.com/page/article.asp?artic_id=14513
In this section you will find transcripts of the following:
- The Making Of Silent Hill 2
- Biographies
- Castlevania Chronicles - Director's Interview
While watching the DVD it wasn't too hard to grasp what was really being
said and meant, but after writing parts of it out now I feel like smacking
the person who wrote the narrative script, as a lot of it doesn't make any
sense. Or tries to go make a point and then somehow entirely misses the
point it started to setup.
It's also times like these I really wish I understood Japanese, as I'm sure
the staff are saying much more than what the subtitles simplify it down to
(the amount of hand movements when talking about what would seem to be
basic comments shows they are really talking in detail).
Any text which transcribes the direct content of the DVD (the narrator etc.)
is copyright to Fun TV. I take no credit for anything but the notes I made
and have written this text out in the interest of allowing people who cannot
see the DVD to at least read what the creators have to say about the game.
Please note that for the making, anything in brackets denotes what is being
shown on screen or some note about what is being talked about. And any speech
from the actual team will be quoted, all other text comes from the voice
over.
WARNING: A piece of advice from a game player... Try to finish playing
Silent Hill 2 before watching this program. That way, you will not spoil
any of the surprise effects. Not only that, it will be easier to understand
what the creators are saying about their work...
[ an envelope appears, the name mary written on it, a sound-alike actress
reads the words that appear, as if they were of mary's real letter to
james ]
In my restless dreams, I see that game... Silent Hill 2.
You promised me to tell me everything about this game
someday. But you never did.
Well... you have the making of now, in your special DVD...
Just waiting for you...
[ the letter and text fade out, and a video appears as if an old time movie ]
Fun TV Presents
A Fun Pl@yer Production
[ various design sketches appear as quotes from the development team are
shown on the screen, with interlaced shots of the team being monsters
ugh... yeah, that's the best way to explain it :) ]
"The most important thing is how to depict a body".
Takayoshi Sato
CG & Character Director
"I want to express what's deep within the mind".
Akihiro Imamura
Producer
"Silence is also a sound".
Yamaoka Akira
Sound Director
Silent Hill 2
-----------------
Making of
Alchemists of Emotion
[ the narration voice over starts ]
This is where Silent Hill 2 was created, here in Tokyo,
somewhere on the 42nd floor of these buildings.
[ after an exterior shot, various scenes of the offices, as well as parts
of development are shown to setup the start of the documentary ]
Counting the graphics designers, programmers, and
musicians, over 50 people worked for nearly two years
on this project.
Silent Hill 2 would not have come to life if it was not
for these three: Imamura, producer. Sato, in charge of
designing the characters and cinematic visuals, and
Yamaoka, who created the sound and music.
[ all three are shown entering the offices and walking to various desks ]
All three are very ingenious, but they say it's like
being married as they all worked together on the first
Silent Hill.
But for Silent Hill 2 they've all gone much further
because Silent Hill 2 is a lot more than just a horror
game, more a terrible love story.
[ scenes from the game are shown ]
Every detail of the game is constructed to shake you up
mentally and emotionally. This is the artistry of these
"Alchemists of Emotions"
[ the introduction to the first section is shown ]
Backgrounds
-------------------------------
Repulsion and attraction
Backgrounds in Silent Hill 2 are based on a concept of
simultaneous repulsion and attraction as one way to
define their impact. Strangely enough they look nasty
and disgust us, but also they have their own kind of
charm, which was just the effect the art director was
trying to achieve of course.
[ the art director appears to talk about his goal in the game, he speaks in
japanese and sub titles are given ]
Masahi Tsuboyama
----------------
Art Director
"I wanted to create something that would really disturb
the game players whilst attracting them. Something
with an aura of mystery."
[ at this time photographs of real buildings are shown, they obviously speak
of the influences you see in the game, and much like "Silent Hill 2 Hits
Close to Home" feature @ PS2 Era-check the links at the bottom-many look
directly the same as ingame counterparts or, as I mentioned, speak heavily
of their influence on the games design. the narrator then starts again ]
Before creating the images for these grim visual
backgrounds, Tsuboyama went to shoot a few stills. It
may sound odd, but these stills maybe the most
important images of all.
The bathroom was the very first room modeled by the art
director. This was the first image created for the
visual background. In a way, it served as the graphics
bible for creating the other visual backgrounds.
It's no accident that the players start the game
indoors.
[ images of the "in production" design of the bathroom are shown onscreen,
then scenes from the start of the game. the final images are a kicker
though - photos of an alley that looks exactly like those from either
silent hill or silent hill 2 ]
A different rationale applied to the exterior visual
backgrounds, the idea was to give the impression that
the city was a lot larger than you'd imagined. Certain
sequences that might seem overlong were inserted
deliberately, to convey a feeling of isolation.
[ we return to the art director, Tsuboyama, to explain more ]
"At the beginning of the game we deliberately made the
descent through the forest towards the cemetery
longer. It's so long you don't feel like turning back.
At the same time, it make you realize just how totally
isolated the city is... and you also.
We knew it was a bit risky in terms of gameplay, but
we really wanted to take our chances and do it."
[ ...and back to the narrator ]
In addition they used a grainy filter do dirty the
images while giving them character. Here's what Silent
Hill 2 would have looked like if it's creators hadn't
used this ingenious process.
[ a scene of James running down the forest path at the start of the game
is shown without the filter on-why they included this when being able
to do this yourself is a bonus option for finishing the game anyway is
beyond me ]
Always trying to take us by surprise, the graphics
designers had fun planting a few disturbing elements
throughout the game, that go unnoticed at first. For
instance there is that body in front of the
television.
[ that scene being is shown as the narrator speaks ]
You don't realize it but you know that face.
[ Tsuboyama explains this ]
"This corpse is James himself! Same face, same
polygonal model structure. In fact, this is an image
straight out of James' imagination."
Another image from James' brain...
[ the room where james comes across the mannequin wearing mary's outfit
is shown ]
That dress on the tailors dummy, holding the
flashlight. You've seen that dress before. It's Mary's.
All of these mysterious details come together to form a
visual background ideal for conveying impressions of
solitude. Suggesting a parallel dimension. The perfect
substrate for showcasing such elaborate and ambiguous
characters.
[ the intro. to the second section is shown ]
Creation of the characters
------------------------------
Emotion and ambiguity
Of course it's James, the hero of Silent Hill 2, who
just like in the first Silent Hill, the main character
does not have the key role.
[ the scene of james first meeting maria is shown ]
Maria is a fascinating woman who epitomizes the
ambiguity of Silent Hill 2.
[ we are then personally introduced to the CG and character designer, Sato,
who is the only one of the staff who speaks in english on the DVD. his
english and the fact the Fun TV team liked to continually edit his
comments down makes this part of the most interesting and hardest parts to
type up :) if you've seen the dvd and see an error in my take of his
comments please feel free to mail me and debate the error ]
Sato Takayoshi
-----------------------
CG and character artist
"Disturbing and, uh, sometimes looks cute. And there is
no specific model of her."
With her disturbing ambivalence, the Maria character
has much more appeal than other heroines. For example
the one of Final Fantasy the movie. Sato explains why.
"The main girl character, doesn't have a wrinkle. And,
uh, doesn't have a kind of a bad point. She, she is
kinda perfect."
"For example, you know if you ugh, if you are attracted
by some woman, you know she not perfect. If you take
her pictures, ugh... sometimes, her face is ahh...
like that."
[ Sato makes an extremely weird face, audiences roll with laugher ]
"You know, it's not perfect. You know, if always she's
perfect, I guess ah, you wont love her."
"You're in love with her because she's human. She has
character. That character has, umm... bad points, of
course bad point, and good points."
"We didn't make that, but I ugh, it's more real in the
Silent Hill second. From, ahh, visual, or technique
point of view. But, you know I think I made it more
realistic work."
So Maria is woman who has her weak points but takes
full responsibility for them. She flaunts her tummy
with a little roll of flab, doesn't try to conceal the
brown-spots on her skin, cheek with respect to some
parts of the body.
"I think she is a brunette [ pointing to a SH2 poster
in the background with maria on it ]. She's not blond,
she dyed red, but then she dyed... she bleached."
These details make her seem very real. A woman with
appeal. Sato explains that 'actually Maria was sexier
when we started out. But her plunging neck line gave us
too many technical problems and we weren't happy with
the way the graphics looked'.
A body like that isn't much without a lively expressive
face, so Sato threw himself into his work on this part
of the animation.
[ scenes of Sato making sketches of maria's face and other facial artwork
is shown ]
"I tried to act sexy in front of mirror. And ugh you
know, just... open top of eyes. And ugh, move the lips
sexier... like that."
[ he tries to give examples of this sexy look and audiences again roll with
laughter - poor Sato :) ]
"You know... in the office. I was a pervert."
As a matter of fact, to obtain better results in face
animation, Sato did not resort to motion capture.
"I couldn't trust face motion capture."
"That motion capture system, uhhh... it just took the
position of the skin. If you opened the mouth, the
muscles around here [ points to side of his face ]
tighten. Where as motion capture cannot capture it.
But if I make that in front of mirror, I can notice
it. I can capture it. That's most of... the biggest
reason (why I chose to do so)."
[ scenes of maria's face motion using softimage on a computer are shown,
while being manipulated in various ways ]
By doing the animation by hand, you can combine dozens
of expressions and and come up with just the right one.
Even the most absurd.
[ more motion animation is shown, this time of maria running ]
On the other hand motion capture was used for the body
sequences. In other words, these motions were carefully
thought out or rather heavily observed. The actress
playing Maria struck poses that would turn the head of
any red-blooded male player.
The animators just had to transpose these sexy poses.
[ while this is said we are shown footage of the motion capture process,
with the actors doing the scene from the back of the heaven's night bar,
where maria unlocks the door. afterwards the scene from the game itself is
then shown ]
For the finishing touch all they needed was a voice to
bring the face to life. Between 50 to 60 people from
Japan and the United States were auditioned. And only
five of them were hired.
[ we are then shown photos of three of the hired cast with their character
beside them. notation of who they actually are is never made though.
maria/mary - monica horgan
angela - donna burke
eddie - david schaufele ]
By the way, the same persons who made the motion
capture.
[ more parts of motion capture sessions are shown, the scene in the
alternate hospital basement, the scene with Eddie in the mess hall of
the prison ]
You must be thinking five? Hmm... That's funny there
are six characters. That's easy to explain. The same
person played Maria and Mary.
Once again it's no accident.
[ ...and back to Sato we go ]
"Same ugh, polygon structure, polygon structure of
face. Exactly the same. A little bit... the skull
shape is different, but Maria can make Mary's face
and Mary can make Maria's face."
[ CG images of maria and mary are imposed one on top of the other to
show you that the faces do match ]
"But the gimmick of a face, like the skeleton and
muscle structure is a little bit different."
Now unlike James, Angela is really bizarre. In the game
she's supposed to be 16 or 17 but she doesn't really
look like a teenager.
"It's not, ugh, a usual teenager. She has something I
think and I tried to, ugh, you know, to make her face
special. There's something inside, and that's why I
made these lines, these shadows, she kinda has this
short [ something ] mouth. And tried to make her
facial emotion, face animation, a little bit
uncomfortable.
It makes her lots more older."
[ a motion capture scene of the stairwell scene between angela and
and james is now shown ]
The design team aimed to make Angela look older and
opted for an older voice. The actress playing Angela is
about 40.
Last but not least there's Eddie. His creation was kind
of funny.
[ Imamura explains this part ]
"A friend of mine is Eddies' physical model!"
Who for your information doesn't know about it.
Fortunately he only borrowed his friends physical
characteristics because Eddie is maybe the most
deranged of. He appears heavy and clumsy due to a
number of subtle details.
[ Sato explains these details ]
"His pupils are a little bit wider. Open a little bit
wider than the rest of the characters. His eye
direction is [points in two different directions with
both hands ] in the other direction. And his eyes move
a little fast compared to the other characters. And I
did that on purpose."
An in-depth study of human emotions, passionate
attention to detail, and the perfect casting. There
lies the secret to the characters in Silent Hill 2.
But the monsters are every bit as ambiguous.
[ the intro. to the third section is shown ]
Creation of the monsters
-----------------------------
Something human
[ the section starts with the Misty Day image and slowly goes through
various CG and artwork designs of monsters from the game ]
The creatures of Silent Hill 2 are not your run of the
mill horror game monsters. They have no horns, no
tentacles, no supernatural powers, their monstrous
because their shape suggests deformed human features.
[ the enemies designer now explains some of the ideas behind this ]
Ito Masahiro
-----------------
Monsters designer
"My basic idea in creating the monsters of Silent Hill
2 was to give them a human aspect. In the beginning,
they game player would believe they were human.
Then I proceeded to undermine this human aspect, by
giving weird movements to these creatures..."
[ the straight-jacket enemy is shown crawling and the nurse walking along
are shown in softimage to give an example of the type of movements ]
"...and by using improbable angles for their bodies
based on the mannerisms and movements of drunk people
or the tentative walk of very young children."
But sometimes inspiration strikes when least expected.
"The idea for the monster in a straight-jacket hit me
as I watched a programmer friend who works here. One
day he came to see me.
I saw him coming from a long way off. His hands were
in his pockets close to his body, and he was wearing a
sweatshirt with a hood. He was also listening to his
Walkman and walking in a cool way.
That's how I got the idea for the monster."
Of course Ito's references were not mealy anecdotal, he
also drew inspiration from his favorite artist, the
Irish painter Francis Bacon, who's tormented features
influenced the world of Silent Hill.
[ imagery from Bacon's work is shown on the screen. looking around online,
various artworks have some obvious relevance to that of silent hills
look, especially the depiction's of deformed human figures - one site
to check is http://www.francis-bacon.cx ]
But the most striking and original creation is
indisputably the triangle headed monster.
[ images of design versions and cg versions are shown, then ito working
on a sketch which he makes look easy, as if he's done it hundreds of
times before-and probably has. the narrator of course comments on this ]
Ito draws with such ease you might think that he got
the result he wanted straight away, but what he was
looking for was a monster with a hidden face. Like that
it was less human and therefor more disturbing.
His first idea was this monster.
[ a concept sketch is shown. the monster in it looks slightly like the
straight jacket enemies however only that it's skin has been stretched
and pulled, and tied down with rope like it was a tent cover. it also
has its arms free. it has no face as the skin is stretched downwards
from it but looks human otherwise. ]
Then he realized it was nothing but a human in a mask.
So then he took the concept further giving him a head
in the shape of a triangle. He explains it this way.
"The triangle has right angles and acute edges, their
sharpness suggests the possibility of pain, and the
triangle shape also helps explain the monster's role
in the game."
Once the monsters have been created all they needed
were a few bizarre monster noises and some choice
musical sequences. This was a job for the sound
designer Yamaoka.
[ the intro. to the forth section is shown ]
Musics and sounds
----------------------------
Under the skin
[ we are first introduced to Yamaoka playing the theme of the game on his
guitar ]
"Movies didn't inspire my work for creation of Silent
Hill 2's music, that's just my style. For the main
theme, I sat down at my place and took 3 days to
compose it."
It's a theme which conveys the melancholy of Silent
Hill 2, which like the game itself, plays with unlikely
combinations.
Akira Yamaoka
--------------
Sound Director
"I don't think that melody is the most important thing
in a piece of music. However for this theme, I based
my music on a sad melody with a strong beat. Above
all, I wanted to make sure that people feel something
listening to my music."
Yamaoka also produced all the sound effects. A total of
50 sounds not counting the nuances. To prevent
repetition he created hundreds of footstep sounds for
the characters.
They too break the with the sound rules applicable to
the horror-survival game.
"I think that the sounds in Resident Evil are pretty
formal. I would say we are used to hearing them.
Whereas for Silent Hill 2, I really tried to create
something that would surprise you, something that
would challenge your imagination as if the sounds were
going under your skin.
What I mean by that is to create a physical reaction
for the gameplayer such as a feeling of apprehension
and unease."
This being said however Yamaoka is too good a musician
to know that silence is sometimes the best sound of
all.
"The job of a sound designer is not just to create
sounds, so to speak. We also have to know how to use
silence. I think that selecting moments of silence, is
another way of producing sound."
The audio track of Silent Hill 2, like the graphics and
animation, succeeds in creating an oppressive world.
Mysterious and completely original. But all of these
technical exploits should not obscure what makes Silent
Hill 2 a work of genius. The fear.
[ the intro. to the fifth section is shown ]
Psychological horror
------------------------------
Eros and Thanatos
Silent Hill had another major strength in that it
invented a new type of fear.
Imamura Ahikiro
---------------
Producer
"In Silent Hill 2, fear could be defined in terms of
what you don't see makes you feel afraid. If you know
that there is something around that you can't see
you'll be scared, deep down."
But the creative people pushed their analysis much
further. This feeling of psychological terror specific
to Silent Hill 2 was the product of serious
brainstorming about the human mind and heart.
[ ...and back to Sato we go to explain this... ]
"Psychological horror has to shake humans heart deeply.
You know shaking peoples heart deeply means ah, means
uncover peoples core emotion and core motivation for
life.
Everybody is thinking and concerning about sex and
death. Everything. And ugh, if we want to scare or
shake or touch the users or spectators, then we have
to think about sex and death deeply."
[ ...of course taking this directly, fun tv then inserts the scene from
just before the fight with the pyramid head ]
"To make like a death scene. Like somebody died, or
monsters died, or if you make that kind of scene...
we tried to ahh... mix erotic essence. This is kind
of a visual and a core concept."
[ images of the monsters are now shown... you should be seeing where this
is going ]
You can see it in these images of dead nurses. With
their short skirts and low necklines. You can see it in
the images of disembodied legs, or in this suggestive
scene [ image of the Pyramid Head with the mannequin
monsters from the scene in the apartment is shown ]. In
Angela's tragedy, and of course Maria's ambiguity. Icy
cold like death and suddenly sensual.
To conclude let's look at one of the most important
scenes in Silent Hill 2, and that's the prison scene.
[ the intro. to the sixth and final section is shown ]
Scene decoding
-----------------------
Mary or Maria
[ the scene from the prison cell starts to be shown for a while then the
drama director steps in to explain more ]
Suguru Murakoshi
----------------
Drama director
"When we wrote the story of Silent Hill 2, we
immediately imagined this scene. In this scene, Maria
is talking to James, but this Maria looks like Mary.
The point was to confuse the game players, to get them
thinking that maybe after all, she was Mary."
[ more of the cell scene plays then we are returned to Suguru to explain
more ]
"Usually, in all the other scenes, Maria is sexy. But
for this scene I tried to make her less sexy."
[ the scene continues until james gets to his "aren't you maria?" line
and pauses ]
Then we get to the big scene. The one where in the same
shot, Maria who was playing at being Mary, becomes
Maria again.
[ the scene continues ]
Notice how her voice becomes more carnal, and how her
posture has become sensuous again.
Never has horror been so poetic. Never has how
emotional ambiguity been so skillfully exploited. The
creators of Silent Hill are artists and their game is a
work of art. It's as real as this hand touching your
face.
So why not take another look at Silent Hill 2.
"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some
strangeness in the proportion".
Francis Bacon
(The philosopher)
----------------
- Credits -
Cameraman - Oliver Smitatello
Editors - Amélle Degouys
Régis Ollagnier
Isabelle Brudey
Sound Producers - Sébastien Plagnol
English Translation - Alice Parte
English Voice Over - John Forbes
Director - Nicolas Beuglet
THANKS TO
KCET -
IMAMURA, SATO, YAMAOKA
for being so cool for their time and for being such creators
KAZ
for his precise translations, his professionalism, and his welcome
GOZO KITAO
for giving us fast answers to our questions
TSUBOYAMA, ITO, SUGURU, HIROYUKI
for having been so patient and interesting
All KCET members
Who helped us in the making of this program
KONAMI EUROPE -
KUNIO NEO
For having given his supreme approval
DAVE COX
For his help
KONAMI FRANCE -
STEPHANIE HATTENBERGER
To give birth to the idea
For her energy
For her "eye drops" for the plane
HANS KOHRS
For his determination in realizing this program
For his german lessons
RALPH CHAMPEAU
For his cheats
To have let me finish SH2 first
CECILE CAMINADES
For having made a good job on SH2 Event
For being able to laugh at Hans' jokes
FUN TV -
STEPHANIE FARRE
for her perfect introduction voice
OLIVER PANNEQUIN
for his help in getting images of the game
FABIEN ADDA
to have utterly failed finding a concluding sentence
STEPHANIE BELAICHE
for having helped me to plug the PS2
LORENE, GUILLAUME, BENJAMIN
because they belong to the Fun Player Team
EMMANUELLE REMPICCI
for having called all the french editors
FREDERIC DE VINCELLES
for having supported the idea of the program
for his phone calls from Greece
SPECIAL THANKS TO
JAMES - for the nice clothes
MARIA - for the great fantasies
MARY - for making me cry
ANGELA - for scaring me
LAURA - for showing me the right path
EDDIE - for his advice on digestive medicines
MONSTERS - for the sleepless nights
On the Silent Hill 2 DVD are a collection of staff biographies which give
small details such as the main staff's location of birth, when they joined
Konami, etc. as well as a comment/message to the players of the game.
----------------
AKIHIRO IMAMURA - Producer
1. Place of Birth:
Nagoshima [about 1,700 miles/2,500km from Tokyo]
2. Raised:
Nagoshima [about 1,700 miles/2,500km from Tokyo]
3. Joined Konami:
1992
4. Gameography:
[PSX] International Track and Field
[PSX] Silent Hill [was involved in concept planning as well]
[PS2] Silent Hill 2
5. Silent Hill 2 Role:
Producer [overall in charge of the development of Silent Hill 2]
6. Comment:
Although it was a difficult, long and winding road to realize our vision,
due to the hard work and dedication of the whole team, we have achieved
the high quality we were aiming for. I hope you enjoy the atmosphere and
story that we created and remember this game is targeted for mature
players.
----------------
TAKAYOSHI SATO - CGI Director
1. Place of Birth:
Tokyo
2. Raised:
Tokyo area
3. Joined Konami:
Feels like forever!
4. Gameography:
[PSX] Sexy Parodius [only released in Japan]
[PSX] Silent Hill
[PS2] Silent Hill 2
5. Silent Hill 2 Role:
Character design, Lead CG Artist
6. Comment:
I have contributed major input into the character design and CG scenes
but I also had a hand in the general narration and script as well. I
would like you to pay attention to not only the CG, but also to the
people, and the human drama itself.
We made this title attractive but also logical. We included a lot of
research into local history and getting information from famous
classical pieces of literature to develop the overall background
story for this title.
We designed the game in a way that the deeper you play the more you can
enjoy the atmosphere.
Please look forward to exploring the game as much as possible. This is
what the drama of Silent Hill 2 is about... it's not only grand but
also convincing in its depth.
----------------
AKIRA YAMAOKA - Sound Director
1. Place of Birth:
Niigata [about 200 miles/300km from Tokyo]
2. Raised:
Tokyo
3. Joined Konami:
September 21, 1993
4. Previous Profession:
Freelance music composer
5. Gameography:
[PSX] Road Rage [Released as Speed King in Japan]
[PSX] Silent Hill
[PS2] Silent Hill 2
6. Silent Hill 2 Role:
Creation of Music and Sounds
----------------
MASASHI TSUBOYAMA - Director
1. Place of Birth:
Niigata [about 200 miles/300km from Tokyo]
2. Raised:
Tokyo
3. Joined Konami:
1995
4. Gameography:
[PSX] Silent Hill
[PS2] Silent Hill 2
5. Silent Hill 2 Role:
Director of all interactive elements of the game.
6. Comment:
I would like to comment on where I would like you to pay close attention
to the game:
The existence of fog & darkness and the real & alternate world is an
important element in creating fear... just as in the previous title.
However, for this title, I was conscious of a certain "strangeness" that
was present in the game and in our daily lives. What I mean by
"strangeness" is unexplained assurances that can happen on an off without
any real reason.
Examples within the game would be the existence of red square, the
circumstances in which you get the handgun, traffic lights which are
turned on in the deserted town, wandering monsters in the real world,
buildings of unrealistic structure [though they seem realistic on the
surface] etc. Moreover we incorporated these ideas of "strangeness"
throughout the game.
Please pay attention to the "strangeness" which we have tried to
integrate into the game... it adds a different quality to the
oppressive fear already prevalent.
----------------
HIROYUKI OWAKU - Scenario Writer
1. Place of Birth:
Ibaraki [about 50 miles/70km from Tokyo]
2. Raised:
Saitama [about 20 miles/30km from Tokyo]
3. Joined Konami:
April 1997
4. Gameography:
[PSX] Silent Hill
[PS2] Silent Hill 2
5. Silent Hill 2 Role:
Overall responsibility of the scenario and set pieces
6. Comment:
I want the consumer to not look at Silent Hill 2 on the surface... rather
I want them to look a little deeper... it's easy to say that this is a
story with certain facts. I want the player to question "Why did the
creators do this or that? Or why did James or Maria react this way...
This is a game where the questioning needs to be deeper to appreciate
the real underlying story.
My favorite lines are the ones uttered by Eddie "Killin' a person ain't
no big deal. Just put the gun to their head... pow! or "And a corpse
can't laugh". [though I am the one who wrote it... I am particularly
proud of it]
----------------
MASAHIRO ITO - Art Director
1. Place of Birth:
Fukuoka [about 1,400 miles/2,000km from Tokyo]
2. Raised:
Saitama [about 20 miles/30km from Tokyo]
3. Joined Konami:
April 1997
4. Gameography:
[PSX] Silent Hill
[PS2] Silent Hill 2
5. Silent Hill 2 Role:
Monster design, animation, and general art design
6. Comment:
I hope that the player enjoy the disgusting movements of the monsters.
Also, I would like them to enjoy the photographic-like depiction's which
looks as realistic as possible by taking full advantage of PS2 hardware
specifications. I really want the gamers to enjoy this peculiar world
view which we have created. If they can also be impressed with the
realistic human depiction's we achieved [even if it points to the negative
side of the human psyche], I would be eternally happy.
----------------
SUGURU MURAKOSHI - Drama Director
1. Place of Birth:
Saitama [about 20 miles/30km from Tokyo]
2. Raised:
Saitama [about 20 miles/30km from Tokyo]
3. Joined Konami:
1999
4. Gameography:
[PS2] Silent Hill 2
5. Silent Hill 2 Role:
Director of all the dramatic sections and movies
6. Comment:
I am particularly proud of the carefully worked out scenario. I do not
think there is any other intense scenario like this in video games. I
hope the gamers can appreciate the dramatic interaction between the
characters.
My favorite scene within the game is where James and Maria talk in
jail. This is a place where you get closer to the truth. Moreover, with
the strange circumstance of looking at each other where there is
iron bars between them, you can feel the tension there and the unique
strangeness we implemented since the facial expression and mannerisms
are unique and quire succinct from each other.
Q: Could you please give us some background info on the projects you've
worked on in the past?
A: The major work of mine would be directing and programming Castlevania
Symphony of the Night. As for other games, I've written some game
scenarios for Tokimeki Memorial.
Q: Do you have a personal favorite Castlevania game?
A: Personally speaking, I love Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse. Another game
I like is Akumajo Dracula X: Chi No Rondo, which was only released in
Japan.
Q: Why choose this particular Castlevania title for revival on PSone?
A: The original game was only sold in Japan and was for PC. There weren't
that many who owned a PC at that time, you know. So, a lot of requests
were made by PlayStation owners to convert this game.
Moreover, this game had a great reputation. I've played the original
game in starting this project. And still, it's quite a lot of fun to
play. I wanted to do something about the situation where one of the
greatest games cannot be played by gamers, especially fans outside Japan.
Q: Because this title hasn't been released in the U.S. until now, can you
give us a little background info on the games story and structure?
A: This is the very first "remake version" from the old Castlevania series.
The story itself is not really that dramatic but Simon, who is the
descendant of the Belmont Family, uses a sacred whip to destroy Count
Dracula. A very simple story, which fans all know.
This game is much more controllable compared to the original game. For
example, you can change the start up of the jump action, whip down while
you jump and more.
The game control has been upgraded which I believe that (the) game itself
turned out to be very fun to play with.
Q: Are you planning more Castlevania re-makes? If so, can you tell us which
classic titles you'll be re-visiting next?
A: Yes, some future plans are in my head right now, but whether or not I can
carry out these plans is up to your support. Please encourage us to make
this dream come true!
By the way, the game I am planning at the moment may be hinted towards
somewhere in this interview.
Q: What do you think it is about the Castlevania series that still endears it
to so many fans around the world?
A: I'm sure that this is due to its great game play and deep story. And also,
the graphics and sound quality are always the best, which endear a lot of
fans.
Q: We've heard that you're currently working on a new Castlevania game -- when
can we expect to see it?
A: The release date for any new game is not confirmed yet. We are now making
the very basic foundations of the game, as we are just now brainstorming
the game plans. Please do look forward to the next game because it's going
to be astonishing!
Q: Which Konami team is working on the game, and have they worked on any of
the previous Castlevania titles?
A: I've gathered excellent staff for this upcoming game. Not only do we have
staff from Symphony of the Night, but also from Akumajo Dracula X-Chi No
Rondo. I would say this is the most talented team we've ever assembled for
a Castlevania game!!!
Q: Symphony of the Night took the series in a new direction, with a vastly
different game structure. As much as we love that game, we've always
wondered, what was the reason behind the change?
A: The major reason why I came to re-change the Castlevania concept was due to
its longevity. Users spend so much money on a product and I simply wished
if they could enjoy the game much longer. So I came to think about this in
Symphony of the Night.
Previous Castlevania series were meant to be made as "one direction" type
of games. I decided not to follow this type, but rather something with more
exploration. That's one of the major differences.
Also, if you're not good enough as a gamer, you cannot see the ending; that
simply means that not everybody enjoys the game fully. To allow everybody
to see the ending, I made the choice to implement power-up levels so that
any gamer could play the game thoroughly with the impression that they have
beaten the game and gained a cash-back feeling.
Videogames are more expensive than any other amusement; If you ask players
to pay for such expensive stuff, why not make something worthwhile enough
for gamers to keep and play forever!!!
The story itself was something very interesting and deep but previous
Castlevania series seemed like they linked to one another but they never
did! I thought I had to do (something) about this, as the Castlevania
series has a very strong universe. In order to do so, I've unified all of
Castlevania's world view in the game, Symphony of the Night.
Thanks to:
- Team Silent, for the excellent games.
- Konami Europe for allowing us to have this bonus DVD (even though they
picked FunTV to do it). Here's to the bonus with MGS2... just don't mess
up with the zone thing this time :)
- The staff at B&B for continually checking up the status of the replacement
for me. Too bad Ozisoft is as slack as ever.
- The numerous people who asked questions and made me decide to do this FAQ.
- BR for allowing me to borrow his Region-X Key so I could see the damn thing.
- MR & "H" for the online support with this.
- Everyone who supported SOSH when it was online.
- Wesker and Evil for giving me the SH2 Event Info & Links
- Sunderland on holding out on his SH2 VC Interviews... and not giving me
the chance to think of questions ( but I'm going to make you ask DS about
the capture :p ) Oh and for the additional hope :)
Links:
- KCET/KonamiTYO
http://www.konamityo.com/
- Konami Europe
http://www.konami-europe.com
- Silent Hill 2 US Website
http://www.konami.com/silenthill2
- Silent Hill 2.de Europe Website
http://www.silenthill2.de
- Gamespot SH2 Coverage
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters/products/0,11114,437029,00.html
- PS2IGN SH2 Coverage
http://ps2.ign.com/games/14904.html
- Silent Hill Sanitarium (Home to the excellent SH Plot Guides)
http://www.dark-legacy.org/silent-hill
- Silent Hill "Hits Close to Home" (Cool Feature showing real life SH2 areas)
http://www.psera.com/bin/showfeatures.cgi?id=1
