Matt Wescott Interview - Spectrum, Bandersnatch & Nohzdyve

[arcadeadriano]

Matt Westcott is not only a Spectrum demo & music supremo but he also worked his computer coding magic by creating the infamous Nohzdyve - the game within @blackmirror's Bandersnatch! I hope some of you enjoy the interview below:

https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/matt-wes ... -interview

[Fahnn]

Matt Westcott is not only a Spectrum demo & music supremo but he also worked his computer coding magic by creating the infamous Nohzdyve - the game within @blackmirror's Bandersnatch! I hope some of you enjoy the interview below:

https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/matt-wes ... -interview

Thanks for this, really interesting interview. I've always been a sucker for an anthology series (Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Tales of the Unexpected etc.) and was a fan of Charlie Brooker's stuff since TV Go Home, so Black Mirror was always going to be right up my street. I'd really enjoyed all the previous episodes, but when Bandersnatch appeared at the end of last year, it was as though they had specifically produced an episode to directly appeal to me! Mad stuff. I know it got its share of criticism but I absolutely loved it and thought the branching options were done really well.

A thing I found especially interesting from the interview was this:

The production team had already created Nohzdyve as a video mockup before I got involved – that’s the version seen on screen in the show itself – so I didn’t get a whole lot of creative control. My task was really to stay as close as possible to the video clip, which was made a fair bit easier by the fact that they’d clearly gone to a lot of effort to make it look like a plausible Spectrum game, right down to the colour clash!

I wonder how this was done? It just strikes me that the easiest way to re-create the look of a Spectrum game would be to actually use a Spectrum (well, more likely an emulator) to create it rather than messing around with modern animation or video editing software, getting the resolution and colours looking right, and so on. Anyone know how the original mock-up was created?

[Alessandro]

I had the pleasure of meeting Matt at the launch of the ZX Vega in London four years ago. A very nice person, and his contribution for the Spectrum community is just invaluable.


(Photo by Gerard Sweeney)

[arcadeadriano]

This is a great picture! Thank you for sharing! Matt was a real pleasure to interview.

[arcadeadriano]

Matt Westcott is not only a Spectrum demo & music supremo but he also worked his computer coding magic by creating the infamous Nohzdyve - the game within @blackmirror's Bandersnatch! I hope some of you enjoy the interview below:

https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/matt-wes ... -interview

Thanks for this, really interesting interview. I've always been a sucker for an anthology series (Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Tales of the Unexpected etc.) and was a fan of Charlie Brooker's stuff since TV Go Home, so Black Mirror was always going to be right up my street. I'd really enjoyed all the previous episodes, but when Bandersnatch appeared at the end of last year, it was as though they had specifically produced an episode to directly appeal to me! Mad stuff. I know it got its share of criticism but I absolutely loved it and thought the branching options were done really well.

A thing I found especially interesting from the interview was this:

The production team had already created Nohzdyve as a video mockup before I got involved – that’s the version seen on screen in the show itself – so I didn’t get a whole lot of creative control. My task was really to stay as close as possible to the video clip, which was made a fair bit easier by the fact that they’d clearly gone to a lot of effort to make it look like a plausible Spectrum game, right down to the colour clash!

I wonder how this was done? It just strikes me that the easiest way to re-create the look of a Spectrum game would be to actually use a Spectrum (well, more likely an emulator) to create it rather than messing around with modern animation or video editing software, getting the resolution and colours looking right, and so on. Anyone know how the original mock-up was created?

I really appreciate the kind words and feedback on my interview. I also would love to know the answer to your question! Matt was awesome to chat to!