Alan Wake 2 directors reveal how and why real-life special effects were used in the game

Film director Anssi Määttä recently took to social media to showcase his work on last year’s Alan Wake 2. Being the game’s live-action and cinematics director, Määttä was responsible for the live-action shots used in cutscenes and in-game overlaps. While most people would think this strictly involves scenes with actors, Määttä shows how he and Principal Cinematographer Mikko Riikonen created the Vortex and Dark Presence effects alongside their amazing team. 

To add some context, the Vortex cutscene (which looks like the inside of the eye of a dark hurricane) plays whenever control is switched between Alan Wake 2’s two protagonists, Saga Anderson and Alan Wake. Since the characters are usually found wandering through two different dimensions – the real world and the Dark Place – the Vortex is meant to symbolize the switch in perspectives. It looks like the live-action and cinematics team created this effect in a practical manner, by swirling liquids against a dark background. 

It is harder to pin down the recipe for the Dark Presence, as it is a mixture of flickering lights, smoke, and at times the face of Alan Wake’s live actor Ilkka Villi. Since the Dark Presence possessed Alan Wake’s doppelganger, Scratch, it occasionally takes on the titular character’s visage.  

These effects could easily have been done digitally; however Alan Wake 2 director Sam Lake explains that “we (Remedy Entertainment) wanted to lean into practical effects with our live-action material… to draw from our arthouse inspirations.” According to previous interviews, these inspirations ranged from David Lynch films to 1990s horror movie Se7en. Määttä and Riikonen led in the creation of the sets as well as the use of real items to create some surreal and haunting images.  

Alan Wake 2 is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Epic Games Store)