the dark place

In 2024 I spent a lot of time wandering the strange and beautiful world of Remedy’s last game Alan Wake 2. I was completely amazed by the cinematic look and lighting the team managed to pull off so I decided to make a little tribute to the game in Unreal Engine.

THE IDEA

What was first an attempt to recreate some of the game’s environments in Unreal Engine quickly became a little project with its own twist. In Alan Wake the dark place is an alternate dimension in which the protagonist is trapped. To escape this nightmare, he will have to write the story of the game itself. I found this use of the metatheory, the link between the creative act and the game experience, very interesting and wanted to use that in my own work. As a player, it almost feels like the story is formed in front of your eyes which blurs the line between fiction and reality.

Close-up of vintage typewriter keys
A vintage typewriter on a dimly lit wooden desk, with a piece of paper showing repeated text "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Nearby are crumpled paper balls, a black mug, an antique lamp, a stack of documents, bullets, a handgun, and a
Typed text repeating "All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy" multiple times with minor errors.

THE WRITER’s ROOM

The writer’s room is a crucial part of the game as it physically represents your progress. As a player you gather plot points throughout the story and you can change them on the board. The alteration of plots has an impact on your surroundings and helps you navigate the dark place. Anderson’s version of the writer’s room is “The Mind Place” where you gather clues from the investigation.

Those two rooms are a transcription of how the brain works. In a way they embody their host thoughts and creative act. I found this idea very powerful and decided to use it in my own work where the writer’s room represents my own process and lays down all the plans of the short film.

SHELVES

The game’s lighting often changes drastically when you interact with the plot board which creates high visual impact. This scene was first a recreation of Abigail Jameson’s environment (see behind the scene) that I decided to dress as if the plot would have been changed from an abandoned setting to a cult setting. The writings, monitors icons or V shaped neons are all symbols from the Cult of the Tree in Alan Wake 2.

monitors

The circle or spiral is a common theme in Alan Wake. When you are able to change the story’s components, you often end up where you started. I wanted to highlight this by ending my short film with the beginning of the game. The camera slowly turns and enters the centered monitor that plays the first sequence of Alan Wake 2, blurring the line between what’s real or not.

BEHIND THE SCENE

As always during the pre-production, I scribbled my thoughts in my notebook. Gathering a bunch of good and bad ideas, sketches and thumbnails always helps me find what I’m looking for. In this project though, it was specifically interesting because the theme is the creative act through writing. Having those physical notes included in the project was meaningful and important to me. In this section, we’ll go through a few workflows and ideas I implemented to meet the deadline.

A collage of video game screenshots featuring dark, atmospheric scenes with red and blue lighting, various characters, and settings like forests, interiors, and control rooms.

REFERENCES

Most of the references came from my own screenshots captured while playing the game but I also relied on concept art from the Remedy team.

ENVIRONMENT STUDY

Alan Wake 2 reference: Dimly lit room with empty shelves, a folded chair, bottles, cardboard boxes, and a cereal box on a shelf, suggesting abandonment or disuse.

IN GAME REFERENCE

Reproduction: Dimly lit room with cluttered shelves, boxes, a table, and chairs; scattered papers and a tarp on the floor.

RECREATION IN UNREAL ENGINE

NOTES

Open notebook with hand-drawn sketches and notes for a video project. Includes storyboard thumbnails, lighting ideas, and concept outlines titled 'The Dark Place Teaser.' Various symbols and camera angles are depicted, with references to props and lighting setups.
Open notebook with hand-drawn sketches and notes, including diagrams of screen layouts, lighting effects, and storyboard elements for a project. Contains handwritten headings like "Alan Wake Identity" and mentions of visual components such as "red lighting," "two worlds (light & dark)," and "nightmare, unlogical perspective."
Open notebook with handwritten project planning, sketches, calendar, and goals for a teaser project.
Chalkboard with notes and images related to creating a tribute to the game Alan Wake, titled 'The Dark Place: Draft 1'. Includes sections like moodboard, ideation, environments, and animatic, with sketches, text, symbols, and photos.
A bulletin board with various notes including team member photos, project deadlines, and work-in-progress areas. The board includes images of Colin Ramon and Arthur Tasquin, mentions 'Deadline Gamescom,' a part titled 'Lack of Sleep,' and notes on so
Dimly lit bulletin board with sketches and notes, including geometric shapes and a grid layout. The text is mostly blurred and difficult to read.
Chalkboard with notes, sketches, and images related to 'The Dark Place: Draft 1' and 'Alan Wake' tribute.
Blackboard with words and symbols

BOARD HANDWRITING

By using Procreate on Ipad, I was able to create atlases of handwriting alphas. I could then model 3D papers and edit the UVs to fit the appropriate writing.

Handwritten white text on a black background, featuring repeating phrases: "I need sleep," "No AI was used in the making of this project," and a narrative about a deer and a person caught at the end of their story.

SHELVES CULT PAPERS

In Alan Wake 2 you see a lot of crazy notes left by people from the cult. I replicated some of them and added other personal notes in the mix.

Screenshot of a 3D modeling software interface displaying a vintage upright piano on a wooden floor in a dimly lit room.

QUIXEL BASHING

My goal with this project was to get as close as possible to the references without modeling anything from scratch. By combining different meshes together and playing with the modeling tools I managed to tackle all the props of the writer’s room. You can see here that the board feets were made of piano pieces. More on this here.

3D modeling software interface showing a cluttered room with shelves, various props, and highlighted objects for editing.

physical scattering

One of my favorite workflows to realistically scatter junk is to use the in-house physical gravity of Unreal coupled with custom collisions. I explained the process here.

Unreal Engine logo in red on a black background.

TITLES

Except for the music, everything has been made in Unreal Engine. I decided to use the impressive CRT TV effect by CemTezcan for the end titles.

MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN

The sounds and music were composed by Colin Ramon, a dear friend of mine and a talented musician who’s vision added a lot of depth to the project.

Screenshot of a project management board for "Alan Wake II" by Jeremy Cerisy, featuring tasks related to design, lighting, sound, and other elements for "The Dark Place" teaser.

NOTION

As a big user of Notion, I relied on this system to track my progress but also organize our collaboration. Having everything in one place eased the communication.

Logic Pro X digital audio workstation interface showing a project with multiple audio tracks, regions, and markers in a MIDI sequencer timeline.

MUSIC

We realised quite early that the music would let the room to the sound design. Our goal was to make the place unwelcoming and creepy.

Person playing experimental musical instrument on a desk with a synthesizer, keyboard, and computer mouse nearby.

SOUNDS

How do you translate a horrific nightmare happening in another dimension ? From that premise, Colin decided to go full analog, creating himself the sound you hear in the project. By using a physical soundbox, a cello and distortion he pushed the eerie feeling to a whole new level.

TOOLS

For this project I’ve developed two tools to help me speed processes. I made them freely available on my Artstation Marketplace so don’t hesitate to grab them if you’re interested.

Interior of a wooden attic with digital outlines and text "MATCH YOUR REFERENCES WITH THIS FREE PP MATERIAL" featuring two circular windows and a desk with a chair. Unreal Engine logo at bottom left corner.

OUTLINE MATCH TOOL

Matching a reference can be tricky so I built this simple tool that overlays outlines on top of your camera. This way you can tweak the camera’s location and depth of field with a direct feedback from your reference’s perspective.

A black and white image with a person wearing a cloth mask with dark eye holes. The text "Free Screamer Material" is written in bold red letters.

SCREAMER TRANSITION TOOL

As explained above, I wanted everything to be in Engine like a video game so I’ve worked on a screamer post process effect to help with transitions. This proved to be quite challenging and I didn’t quite get where I wanted but it still works in my opinion.

INFOS

CREDITS

DESIGN: Arthur Tasquin

MUSIC: Colin Ramon

YEAR

2024