Our interview was split into two sections, the first with Stephan Frost, allowing us to talk more about the game itself, and the second part was dedicated to Cara Gee and her work as an actress for the game.
- Good morning !Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
Cara Gee: Good morning [en français]I am Cara Gee, and I play the role of Carmina Drummer in the series The Expanse and in the video game The Expanse: A Telltale Series.
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Stephen Frost: And I’m Stephan Frost, and I’m the game director at Deck Nine in charge of the adaptation of The Expanse.
Telltale’s return to business
- Deck Nine is best known for its work around the series Life Is Strange.Given that this is your first collaboration with Telltale Games, how was the collaboration arranged, and thus having to stay in the same video game genre but with a different formula?
Stephen Frost: It was exciting to work with Telltale.We started to collaborate together by our common passion for storytelling in video games.There aren’t that many independent developers today who make purely narrative games.Working together seemed quite natural to us when we started discussing it together.
There was something very exciting about talking about the possibilities available to us, combining the knowledge and history of Telltale with our tools like motion capture and our expertise on Unreal Engine.This allowed us quite quickly to be able to count more than before on the performances of actors like with Cara Gee.
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- When we hear the word Telltale, we immediately have in mind a very codified formula, with the notion of choice in the dialogues, the presence of QTE, and something in the end quite compartmentalized.How did you approach this formula?Have you improved it, completely changed it?
Stephen Frost: It’s a mix between continuity and evolution on our part!If you look at what was done with Telltale.These are games that are really about the characters, the decisions that the player makes that affect the protagonists.It’s something we really wanted to keep.
With The Expanse: A Telltale Serieswe also wanted to offer something that is added to the formula, which will be consistent with the universe of the series: the game sections in gravity 0. The idea is really to have a purely Telltale game, but we tried to have a real reflection on the identity of the series and its main components that we can add to the gameplay in order to offer something new and unique.
- As previously announced, the game will feature multiple endings that will be unique to players, how did you manage to integrate these different endings while being consistent with the start of the series?
Stephen Frost: Our reflection in relation to this specific constraint was to create new characters that do not exist in the series in order to make them gravitate around the character of Carmina Drummer.Their fates are thus linked to the choices you make in game. Although Carmina must arrive at her starting point in the series, we needed to create a whole gallery of situations and characters that will make it possible to arrive at this point. 0, with many variants depending on the choices of the players.
- Besides, why did you choose the character of Carmina Drummer as the main protagonist of your game?
Cara Gee: That’s a good question!Why did you choose me?(laughs)
Stephen Frost: We chose the character of Carmina first of all because a large part of the studio, including myself, considers the character to be our favorite from the series.Next, he’s a character who isn’t Manichean (grey area character), who can be as cruel in his decisions as he can be compassionate.We chose the character also because there was no complete background defined in the series compared to other characters, which leaves us a field of possibilities while maintaining consistency with the series.
Open the perspectives of a character while remaining consistent
- Even if you have already done dubbing in the field of audio books, The Expanse: A Telltale Series is your first real voice acting role in the video game.Is it really a different world compared to a traditionally filmed role as an actress?
Cara Gee: Totally!It really is a world apart.I had the occasion more for the game The Expanse: A Telltale Series to also do motion capture.It was something very interesting because precisely, where traditionally we have to work the voice and the body at the same time, here it was almost necessary to separate the two components of the profession.
What’s interesting is that we first shot all of the scenes before even really integrating all of this into the game, because we wanted to make sure that every possible ending in the game was totally consistent with the beginning. of my character in the television series.It was a real challenge because it also requires a huge amount of imagination, especially on the environment in which my character will find himself during such and such a scene, something once again totally opposed to filming on a set.
- Were there any modifications to be made on your side on the way you play the character compared to the series?
Cara Gee: Indeed, this was another huge challenge on my part.I’ve been used to playing this character with a very strong coldness for several seasons.And during the first tests, I had to adapt so that it went better in the game. We had to find this happy medium, with choices that are also totally opposite sometimes which means that playing only in the same register does not could not work all the time, but while having to preserve the characteristics of the character and why he is so appreciated.
- I imagine that when you were filming the series The Expanse, you had your own vision and imagination of the character’s background.Did it stick with the one that was designed for the game?Did you have, on this aspect and on the whole of your role, a certain degree of freedom on the writing of the character and the dialogues?
Cara Gee: It’s much better than I could imagine!The team did a very rich and really beautiful job which does honor to the character.Regarding the freedom in the role, we had a very collaborative work from the beginning of the process.I was quite free to be able to add my grain of salt, my experience of the character for many years, without going into the dimension “Carmina would never do that, she would never say that”.
- Do you have a message for ActuGaming readers?
Cara Gee: I can’t wait for you to discover the game, interact with it.It adds a new extra layer to the universe of the TV series and the books.Do not hesitate to be interested if you liked the game to all the other mediums who have developed the universe making it so rich and which can only fascinate you as it fascinated me during these years.
Stephen Frost: I can’t wait for you to get your hands on the game, to have fun with 0 gravity, and to see the choices you’ll make and your feedback on all the things we’ve created to offer you a nice dive into the world of The Expanse.
If you want to know more about the game, we made a preview of the first episode. The Expanse: A Telltale Series will be available from July 27 on PC (Epic Games Store), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series.