tharle VFX

As part of a PhD by Film practice in UCL’s Anthropology dept Take Me Home is a multi-platform 3D walking sim documentary game. Currently there isn’t a tradition of using game engines and environments as a tool for documentary filmmaking, but there are games that tell a story, for instance Dear Esther and What Remains of Edith Finch. Our documentary game explores how video games can be used therapeutically through a narrative constructed with audio testimony from adult psychotherapy groups. The story is based on the group’s own experiences of being sent to boarding school between the ages of 5-13. They identify this experience as a mid-childhood "broken attachment" from their primary caregiver. This approach could have wider application for further stories to support other groups who have suffered broken attachments in care, fostering and refugee situations.

Team Bios:

Juliet Brown is currently doing a PhD by Film Practice in UCL’s Anthropology department. Her research examines how specific psychotherapeutic methodologies can be transposed into immersive storytelling environments. Juliet’s past 2D documentary work has been with people working through trauma; in cases of genocide, ecocide and gender dysphoria. She teaches practical MA documentary modules at UCL and at the National Film & Television School.

Tom Harle has been working in video games for over a decade, focusing on VFX and Tech Art.  He's been freelancing and working as a game art tutor for the last few years.  He loves that video game and real time experiences are starting to explore non-game spaces, such as therapy, and excited to see where this project can go.

Jane Bunce is a Junior 3D artist and recent graduate from Escape Studios. Before becoming a Digital Artist, she was a Special Needs Teacher and Fine Artist specialising in Drawing and Sculpture. Her ambition to continually create more immersive, narratively driven work drove her to pursue and learn the skills needed to create art for games.  

Riitta Hakkarainen is an animator and scenographer with extensive experience in the design, planning and making of sets and animation for theatre and multimedia performance.

Leon Lewington, Composer and Sound. Leon has a special interest in spatial audio, including binaural and VR, sonic and sensory ethnography, psychology and phenomenology.