Xbox has released a new documentary on YouTube about the making of South of Midnight, a new action-adventure game from Montreal’s own Compulsion Games (We Happy Few).
The 30-minute short film, officially titled Weaving Hazel’s Journey: A South of Midnight Documentary, chronicles the Canadian developer’s efforts to create an authentic version of the American Deep South and the story of a young Black woman named Hazel who must use magical powers to save her hometown. The game was inspired by creative director David Sears’s childhood years in Mississippi.
In the documentary, you’ll hear from members of the team, including art director Whitney Clayton and audio director Chris Cox, who travelled to the South on research trips to capture the geography, architecture, sounds and more from the region. Also featured in the film are performance capture and voice director Ahmed Best (Star Wars‘ Jar Jar Binks) and Hazel voice actress Adriyan Rae (Chicago Fire) and motion-capture actress Nona Parker Johnson (Fear the Walking Dead).
All in all, the film is notable for several reasons. For one, it offers a glimpse at just some of the painstaking work that goes into making any game, but especially one with such a cultural specificity. On top of that, it’s just not all that common to get official publisher-backed documentaries on games, making this particularly insightful. It’s one of a few docs that Xbox has put out in recent years, including one on Ukrainian S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 developer GSC Game World and another on the history of the brand.
For more on South of Midnight, check out our extensive preview of a behind-closed-doors gameplay demo featuring interviews with some Compulsion team members, Best, Rae and Johnson.
Image credit: Xbox
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