El Matador

El Matador: The Fades of the Nile has come along with a fresh crop of images showing off the incredibly detailed cinematography and unique special effects used in the flick. As you might have already read in the press release, this is the first time the film has been seen at the IMAX festival. The film is based on a novel by Jeanne Zeleny ( My Eyes Only ), and follows the exploits of Henri Marcolo (Felix Chihuahua), an ex-pol officer who ends up making the curse that he was charged with killing his ex-girlfriend in a medieval torture mission. Photos of the IMAX photography were released to the press in this morning’s recently published interview . "Our pilot shot was so good I thought it was crazy. We showed it to an audience, and everyone was so excited," said producer Nina Bahrino. "We really wanted to make the movie more realistic." "It was an incredible technical challenge to get the trailer in the state that it was when we screened. But we did our best and we did everything we could to make it as smooth as we could." Which begs the question: What did all the crew member's own personal issues make of the CGI process? "The final result was the most visceral, involving, and magnificent viewing experience we’ve ever had," said Bahrino. "Even just the way you walk in the room, the tension between the characters, the effect that it creates is so incredible. It really brings out the emotions of the moment." "I’ve always wanted to do something special and different," continued Bahrino. "We’re always thinking about how we can incorporate that with the game, but we never felt the video game was the same." From the one-man extravaganza that was planned for the game, we should have seen that all ended with the realisation that the storming of Death Mountain was indeed a base on which Death has taken the world. Death Mountain is an actual, alive place. A place to live. In the lore, the dead also spring to life - the sea of sand that floods the sky, and leaves behind areas that have been since abandoned. However, while the game has been designed to keep you occupied for months, Bahrino seemed to think it might not actually be a real place, or anything, really. "If I’m going to show you the story, I’m going to say it is... The life of Death Mountain is a mystery, and I think it is very strange,” he tells us. “The little drow monastery we were in at the time of the death was the lowest, the very lowest, very low, very high level of the place. And it was a quiet place. The fire and brimstone buildings were the highest level, so I was in the middle of it.” Despite Death Mountain being described as a fantasy fantasy world, it's a very deliberate approach to its setting. “In this case, the idea is that there are a lot of fantasy settings,” Bahrino says. “I really love fantasy, I love fantasy. I’ve been a fantasy fan for a long time, and it’s a little weird, but it’s definitely not the usual fantasy setting you get in fantasy.”

In the present day, you're given all the best armour and weapons of your choosing, which will affect the way you approach the missions.

“The mage might use armour, I’ve been in medieval, I’ve been playing military and so I haven’t ever been into anything,” Bahrino says. “They might even use weapons.”

“The weapons are all different,” he adds. “It’s pretty broad in its range of equipment. And there are some people who would rather you just equip them with gear, because you don’t know. They’re going to just equip everything, and do their job just fine.”

Unlike fantasy settings, in which your actions in The Elder Scrolls are permanent, there is no magic system that is “always active”.

“It’s in the world. You have to get your equipment, you get that equipment, and you’re going to learn it. You do all the things that are usually something that you don’t have to learn to use, like adding a lot of ‘Magic’ skills to them. It’s really up to you. You have to learn everything.”

“You want it to be an experience you can enjoy with whatever you can see, but that can also mean it’s not always about magic.