POLYGON
25 September 2013
By Jenna Pitcher

Earlier this week, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia hosted Beyond The Game: Live Forum featuring panelists Quantic Dream's David Cage and casting director, Suzanne Goddard-Smythe.

The event discussed the "rise of interactive drama" genre and "blurring of lines between game and film" across the entertainment industry in front of the Australian gaming community. Goddard-Smythe, who cast Ellen Page (Juno, Inception) and Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Spiderman) as the leading roles in the game, shared her thoughts on actors having to reinvent their skillset to remain competitive as the lines between game and film converge.

During the forum, Cage offered his personal experiences on Beyond: Two Souls' development, saying blurring the lines between the mediums was a necessity in order to satisfactorily express protagonist Jodie Holmes' story.

"Beyond: Two Souls is by far the most ambitious title Quantic Dream has worked on to date. We wanted to create this emotional journey into the life of a character and tell her story through fifteen years," Cage said. "Blending the frontiers between video games and films was one of the challenges we had to face: we wanted to create an experience that would be fully interactive with a strong story that the player would tell through his actions rather than through cut scenes."

Hosted by Australian actor and writer, Robert Carlton, the panel also featured insights from Sydney University film lecturer, Dr Bruce Isaacs and film director Nicholas Clifford, who won short film festival Tropfest in 2013. Those interested can watch the entirety of Beyond The Game: Live Forum in the video above.