In its recent series of videos giving us behind-the-scenes looks at the making of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, developer MachineGames has released a new one, this time around focused on how it captured the adventurous spirit of the Indiana Jones franchise. Check it out below.
The video features several voice actors from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, including Tony Todd (Lucas), Troy Baker (Indiana Jones), and Alessandra Mastronardi (Gina Lombardi). The voice actors talk about their experiences in doing motion capture work for the adventure game.
“This is my first mo-cap production, ever,” said Mastronardi. “When I was reading the script, I was like ‘wow, we’re going to all those places? That’s awesome!’. And then I was told that ‘it’s a mo-cap.’”
“The mo-cap experience relies on the power of imagination,” said Todd. “So you have to have a great grasp on what you’re going for, and what is real. And it’s important for actors to be grounded before they throw themselves into a mo-cap experience, which is quite different from being on stage. You’re surrounded by cameras, everybody’s talking to you, everybody’s trying to give you a note.”
Baker, who plays the part of protagonist Indiana Jones, talks quite a bit about the challenges of portraying such an iconic character without having access to some of the more tactile, physical props that actor Harrison Ford had when he worked on the classic movies.
“Harrison Ford got the benefit of you being on that set and on location, and he puts on the jacket and he puts on the hat and he has the whip,” explained Baker. “What we do, all of those things are gone, and all I have is Velcro and a gray box, and a camera hanging off my head about 6 inches.”
“And so for me it’s always more important about understanding not the shoes that I have to fill, but just the character that’s there to inhabit, that exists outside of all those trappings. Indy doesn’t wake up and go ‘I’m not Indiana Jones until I put on the hat.’ He’s Indiana Jones through and through.”
The last such behind-the-scenes video was released earlier this month, and focused on the challenges that the voice actors faced when stepping into the shoes of characters for the game. Baker also spoke about getting his own whip to the studio in preparation for the role.
“I got my own whip, and I showed up on set, and they looked at me and asked ‘what’s that,’ and I said ‘that’s my whip,’ and they said ‘no it’s not,’” he said. “Here’s a rope. This is a safe place and we’re not going to have you using a weapon inside this incredible facility. So I never actually got to use the whip.”
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was originally released for PC and Xbox Series X/S last year. The game is now on its way to the PS5, and will be out on the console on April 17. For more details about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, check out our review.