Mighty No. 9 (2013-2014)
After the success of guiding multiple Kickstarter campaigns that fetched millions of dollars with Minecraft and Double Fine Adventures, 2 Player Productions was contacted by producer Benn Judd to create a pitch video for Keiji Inafune’s new project, Might No. 9. The game was described as a spiritual successor to the Mega Man franchise, a series that he had no creative control over since leaving Capcom, but who had guided the franchise’s success for decades.
After including several other companies in the project that would take care of localization, translation, and many other production responsibilities, the Kickstarter launched in 2013 raising almost $4 million in its first month. As part of the rewards for the back campaign, 2 Player Productions would create a documentary series in addition to the Kickstarter pitch video, penned by the various studios involved with the project.
Responsibilities for this project included on-site recording in Japan, working closely with Comcept (The game’s design studio) and Inti Creates (the game’s developer). On three different trips to Japan, 2 Player Productions traveled back and forth between the Tokyo and Osaka offices, documenting the rarely-before-seen look processes of often secretive Japanese game developers.
Our first trip gave us the opportunity of working out all the kinks of international travel, while trying to produce a professional video series. Unforeseen issues arose in all facets of production; Carrying expensive equipment on an airplane, transporting hundreds of pounds of cameras, lighting, and audio recording gear through rush hour Tokyo trains, finding replacement camera parts in Shinjuku, adhering to international changes in wireless microphone radio frequencies were just a few of the problems that presented themselves aside from the anticipated issues like language barriers. Around every corner, there was a new challenge that we were eventually overcome on subsequent trips, streamlining our workflow with each day we spent abroad.
Upon returning to the states, the footage was offloaded from cameras and fully translated by 8-4 Studios. Back and forth changes were made, requiring a translation each time, and only when approved by Comcept was the episode prepared for audio post production. Mixing was pretty straight forward on this project, done in Adobe Audition. The sessions were easier to mix compared to prior 2 Player Productions projects, this time having been the recording engineer during the visits. This allowed me to closely monitor and adjust mic positioning, compression, and levels while on site, saving time during the post production process.
On the list of all the dream jobs I’ve had, documenting the development of Mighty No. 9 is near the top. Who wouldn’t want to travel the world to collaborate with creators that had influenced them since childhood? Who wouldn’t love the whirlwind of touring Japan a handful of times with their friends as part of a documentary crew? A lot can be learned from time spent in close quarters with peers and collaborators, even from the most basic of situations while trying to find a hotel without an address, or finding a properly vegetarian meal when you don’t speak Japanese.
Director, Editor: Paul Owens
Executive Producer: Paul Levering
Director of Photography: Asif Siddiky
Music: OK Ikumi