18th March 2024 Exclusive Interview With Tiia Öhman, Photographer on Alan Wake 2

To kickstart the week, we are excited to announce our interview with the brilliant, Tiia Öhman! Possibly known best by many of us as Poets of the Fall's talented resident photographer, she was also worked on Alan Wake 2, providing gorgeous photos for the game's promotional, behind the scenes snippets, in-game posters, and on Old Gods of Asgard merchandise. Her incredible work has been shared so widely, that there's an absolute chance that you would have seen her photographs already. 

We recently had the pleasure of virtually sitting down with Tiia to talk to her about her start in photography, what it was like being on the Alan Wake 2 set, returning to the series (she was also the photographer on the War music video!), and her hopes for 2024. Check out our conversation below!

Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you first got involved in photography?

For as long as I can remember, I have loved drawing and painting, and all things visual. When I was 16 or 17, I took a few film photography lessons at my art school, but didn't have the patience for the dark room business back then. Once I started going on all the Poets of the Fall concerts back in 2004-2005 that I could possibly manage, I also got super excited about digital photography. Things escalated from there a bit: I got to know the band, took more and more photos for them and ended up taking most of their promotional images. Because of that and some other photo gigs, I managed to score, I upgraded my camera gear whenever I could afford it. So it happened very naturally, and unlike most of the career-type things I've tried in life, photography just stuck and became a big part of my personality. 

Tiia sitting at home surrounded by plants as sunlight streams in. (Original: tiiaohman.com)

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As you worked on the War music video back in 2010, how did it feel returning to the Alan Wake series?

Amazing! The War film shoot was one of my favorite music video productions of all times. I mean, the band was there, Ilkka Villi was there and we also had this massive greyhound attending the shoot. When I first heard they were working on some Alan Wake stuff again, I got super excited. 

How did you begin your journey with Remedy on Alan Wake 2?

During the past few years, I've worked with Remedy a few times as an event photographer and gotten to know some of the fun folks at the office. I also have a lot of experience in still photography for TV & movies, so I guess it was just a great match. But even if they hadn't hired me, I think I would've somehow made my way into the shooting of the live-action bits. Inside the band's suitcase or something, haha.

Ilkka Villi as Alan Wake, edging closer to a highway patrol car in War. (Credit: Tiia Öhman)

What goes into preparing for a photoshoot, both mentally but also practically?

Good question, and it depends a lot on what kind of shoot it is. If it's a studio portrait shoot, I need to relax and activate the social side of myself so I can help my subject to also feel relaxed. Surprisingly many are very nervous about stepping in front of the camera.

If it's a film shoot - like the AW thing or a TV production - I have to concentrate on staying out of the film crew's way and to stay alert at all times as I myself have no control over lighting or the actors or crew members etc. So I just have to be ready and try to capture the best moments from whatever dark corner I'm hiding at that moment. In each situation, the gear is a little different, but the preparation is mostly the same: get your batteries charged, your memory cards empty and GO.

Poets of the Fall's Marko Saaresto as Odin Anderson. (Credit: Tiia Öhman)

When entering a photoshoot, what things do you pack?

All the camera gear, obviously. My recent favorites have been the 70-200mm 2.8 and the 28-70 2.0 lenses from Canon. For portrait shoots I need to pack the backdrop, lights, stands, since most of my portrait work lately has been taking place on set where the shows and movies are being shot - it's definitely easier to go the actors than to have five or ten of them come separately to someplace else. I think of it as my own little photo studio on wheels. 

For film productions I usually bring my own water bottle and coffee thermos (the Finnish productions are delightfully eco aware these days!), comfy/quiet shoes, dark clothing (to avoid getting caught by the film camera in the reflections), spare charger for my phone and if it’s an exterior shoot, a lot of clothing options. And ibuprofen since I'm a migraine gal, damnit. 

For weddings, one absolutely needs quiet shoes for the church!

Poets of the Fall and Remedy film crew during Alan Wake 2's live action recordings. (Credit: Tiia Öhman)

Does your approach change when you're photographing live performances compared to arranged photoshoots?

Yes, a bit. The actual photoshoots need a lot of brain work; location, background, creative ideas and all that on top of the actual gear and all the hundred little bits and bobs I need to remember. To live performances I mostly bring my camera, a couple of lenses and myself and get to be creative in the moment. 

What was the atmosphere like on the Alan Wake 2 set?

So much fun! A bunch of creative people and nerds (a word I use 100% with love) getting together is the best setting for a good work day. Of course, it was a very professional and well-organized production so there’s always a lot of pressure for everyone involved to do their best work, but still… the days I was there, the mood was very happy and filled with amazing little moments of “woah” and laughter.  

Olli on the Alan Wake 2 set, with Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen (Odin Anderson) in the background. (Credit: Tiia Öhman).

Do you have a favourite photograph from your work on the game?

It’s very hard to pick one! I feel like I managed to snap a lot of rockin’ ones of our pals Old Gods of Asgard and the always impossible photogenic Ilkka Villi, but getting to capture David Harewood as Mr. Door was definitely a highlight. The charisma!

What's your favourite memory from working on Alan Wake 2?

Ouch, I can’t choose. Can I just pick the dumb Tik Tok video we did with Ilkka? It gained close to half a million views on a platform I don’t really even use, or follow, or like, and that’s just nuts :D 

Is there an aspect of your work on the Alan Wake 2 photoshoots that you're secretly really proud of? Something that is small and silly, but you were so excited to just get right.

I don’t really consider myself an amazing, mind-blowingly talented world-class photographer, but I do take a little pride in my ability to shoot decent quality images in the time and circumstances I’m given. At film shoots, the time is *very* limited (like I get 1-2 minutes for each portrait shoot done on set, max) and the light and the surroundings are usually mostly beyond my control. And I just have to deal with it the best I can.

Plus, ok, I managed to get a fun shot of David in between takes, with his feet up on the table and the soles of his shoes covered in confetti. It was adorbs. 

Sam Lake (Alex Casey) sits with David Harewood (Warlin Door) during a filming break. David's shoes are on the table, gold confetti stuck to the soles. (Photo taken and sent by Tiia Öhman.)

Are there any tips that you would give to someone hoping to start photography?

Get to know your gear and what it’s capable of. Learn to see and read light. Keep taking those photos and discovering things that make them different, but also look at other photographers’ work to learn what you like and which skills to develop in your own work to shoot something similar. Don’t copy or steal, but feel free to let yourself be influenced by your favorites. Social media is full of incredible tricks and ideas for creative photos with almost zero budget, follow accounts like that and you may find a lot of inspiring things to try.

How has your 2024 been so far,  and what are your hopes/plans for the year?

BUSY! Which makes me happy. I’ve worked on film productions, graphic design work, websites and more. In a few weeks, I’m moving into my very first own studio space, and aside from creative photo studio work, I’m looking forward to painting on big canvases — something I really can’t do in my tiny apartment without messing up the walls and the floors and covering my little doggo in paint, haha. 

A promotional image for Old Gods of Asgard, used across marketing, merchandise, and for in-game art. (Credit: Tiia Öhman.)

A huge thank you to Tiia for taking the time to answer our questions! We can't wait to see what wonderful creations you share next. possibly with the help of a tiny doggo. 

You can follow her adventures on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Check out her portfolio at TiiaOhman.com

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28th February 2022 Community Interview with Vida Starčević, Remedy's CM [Celebrating The Sudden Stop's 10th Anniversary]

To celebrate The Sudden Stop turning ten, we recently interviewed Remedy's Community Manager, Vida Starčević, passing along questions we received from fellow fans.

Relocating from Croatia, Vida became Remedy's Community Manager in January 2018, just months before the official announcement of Control at E3. Her work sees her write blog posts, interact with fans on social media, manage the studio's Discord servers, write marketing plans, host livestreams, travel as a studio's representative to international events and much more. If that wasn't enough, her role covers Remedy's entire catalogue, meaning a lot of multi-tasking.

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions, and to Vida for taking the time to answer them! 

Tell us a little about yourself!

Hi! I’m Vida. I’m from Croatia, and I’ve been the Community Manager at Remedy Entertainment for the past four years. I used to work as a gaming journalist back home, and before that I worked for a feminist NGO in a journalist capacity as well, and I did a brief stint in mobile games. But you can find all of that from my LinkedIn profile. As a recovering hipster, I’m interested in music (I listen to a lot of rap, RNB, and early to mid-2000s indie), fashion (both as an expression of individuality, wealth, gender, etc, and as an art form – I like thinking about streetwear just as much as high fashion), and photography. I love horror in any form, which is why it’s so awesome to work on Alan Wake! I spend my spare time playing video games, trying to maintain my Duolingo streak, playing tabletop games with my friends and even being on podcasts for some of them, listening to podcasts (have you heard of Just King Things? It’s great), trying out new cooking and baking recipes, and before the world shut down, travelling.

How did it feel to hear that you were relocating to Finland to work at the studio, and how did you find the process of moving countries?

Applying to Remedy was such a surprising experience – I didn’t think I’d get the job until they gave it to me. I applied “just to try it” – I was thinking, well, I’m definitely going to be rejected because all my community management experience is very basic, but I want to see what the experience of applying to a AAA studio is like, and writing a really robust application for the position will help me down the line when I’m aiming for jobs that are far more in line with the experience I have. It felt surreal when I actually got the job. I couldn’t believe it! I was constantly terrified I’d mess up and they’d send me packing – this one I can definitely attribute to impostor syndrome. I learned so much in that first year, and my team provided wonderful support, and space for me to be creative, make mistakes and get better through that. Moving countries was so devoid of stress it’s barely worth mentioning – Remedy provide a full relocation service for foreign employees, which means that you get complete support with logistics, bureaucracy, and day-to-day stuff from even before you land in Helsinki, to when you’re moved into your permanent residence. It’s great, I received amazing guidance and help.

Control & PlayStation EU teams at EGX 2018. Vida's UK trek after the reveal at E3 2018. [Source]

What is a typical workday for you?

I do community management, but also I help out with more general PR things. To me, community management means making sure that communication flows between the players and the studio – that you know what we’re working on and that you feel included and listened to, but also that the development teams at Remedy are aware what the people we make the games for, our community, think about the games we make. On any given day I’m working on maintaining our social media channels, and I’m also working on things that take a little longer to produce than a tweet. For example, these can be community plans and schedules for the whole cycle of promoting a game, from announcement to launch, or it can be concept documents for videos we want to release for the community. I try to dedicate each day to looking at what people are talking about when it comes to our games, on all social networks, and I try to carve some time out daily to reply to people as the brands, or at least like some posts or tweets. I talk to our development teams to keep track of what’s being worked on, and if there’s anything that I’d need to take note of that would be interesting to our community and audience. For example, if there’s a cool motion capture session, I’ll come down and take photos and videos of that. I spend a lot of time thinking about how we present Remedy and our games to our community and our players, and what we can do to improve that. Practically, this means that I make PowerPoints and write a lot of planning documents (for dev diaries, community strategies, and such), and I also look at how other studios are doing things.

Remedy started working remotely in early 2020. Have you adopted any routines to stay focused and look after yourself while working from home?

Stay focused? Hahaha. No. Look after myself – yes! I have a wonderful support system of friends and loved ones. I’d especially love to give a shoutout to my Destiny clan, Taken That Bread. I’ve been friends and clanmates with these folks for about as long as I’ve been at Remedy, and it’s been an amazingly supportive little community. We’re from all over the world, most of us work in game development, and while being friends with them has always been wonderful, they’ve really saved my sanity more than once during the pandemic. Sometimes all it takes is playing some nice games with some lovely friends to no longer get the morbs. I guess they’ve also helped me stay focused – we have a Discord channel where we all listen to music together while we work, that’s helped keep my mind on track! Remedy has also been supportive about the shift to working from home, and our IT department have been absolute heroes getting everything set up for people to be able to work remotely. We have casual Slack channels where we discuss our remote work life, post pet photos, ask for advice, just regular little day to day socialization things that we aren’t able to do in person at the studio. However, we’ve kept the studio open throughout the pandemic, and keep a clean house and strict rules how to take care of yourself and others when working at the office. I’ve been back in the office since the beginning of the month, and it’s been really nice to sit at my desk with all my knickknacks and to chat to my friends and coworkers in person again.

Vida hosting the remotely-held Alan Wake 10th Anniversary Livestream in 2020. [Source].

Looking back at your career at Remedy what is the thing that you're most proud of? Whether that's a career or personal challenge that you've overcome.

I’m proudest of learning how to communicate better, be it inside the studio (within my team, or with everyone else), or with the community. I’m very glad that I’ve been able to learn how to listen better, and to talk to people in a considerate way. I’m glad that Remedy and my team always give me the space to voice my opinion about our projects and the way we communicate to our players about them. I think it’s hard to gain that confidence, and to a lot of people, myself included, it’s not something that’s innate.

I’m incredibly lucky to have a team that values my input and trusts my opinions. I’m very proud of some of the recent videos I’ve produced, especially our remote working video, which I concepted and realized together with our team and our amazing video editor. And the Alan Wake 2 development diary that we released when Alan Wake 2 was announced, I drove the production of that from Finland while the team were on the ground in Los Angeles. Huge, huge props to them for filming everything and getting all the footage to us in time!

But the thing I’m proudest of is the Remedy community itself. It’s small, but I think the community works hard to be welcoming and inclusive. There’s a lot of talented, lovely people here, and I’m so proud every day to be your community manager. I think one of the highlights has been working with you, Rachel, and The Sudden Stop, to announce Alan Wake Remastered. It was such a pleasure and a really meaningful moment for me, to give back to the community that has given us so much.

The best is yet to come. I’m so excited for what we’ve got planned for Alan Wake 2. I truly can’t wait to tell everyone more about the game – I think it’s going to be wonderful. Everyone’s dedication and love for the Alan Wake universe really shines through in it. I hope our community sees that, too!

How do you juggle focusing on different game projects?

I prioritize. Different projects require a different level of engagement, depending on what we’re promoting and what part of development the project is in. Having a clear project roadmap and a lot of to-do lists and checklists help. What also helps is having plans set by our publishers and the rest of our communications team that I can follow. Knowing what (trailers, release date announcements, sales) happens when and on which project is crucial to deciding in which order to do things, and what to focus on.

Lately, the focus has been on CrossfireX, the launch of the Remedy Store, and American Nightmare's 10th Anniversary. [Source]

What is your favourite Remedy title and what made it so impactful? (Aked by @missvivisx on Twitter & ofabittersoul on Instagram)

It’s Control for sure, because it’s the first game I worked on and it’s the first Remedy game with a female protagonist – a huge reason why I took the job here. I have a lot of love for Quantum Break, because it was the first Remedy game I covered as a gaming journalist and my first cover story for the magazine I wrote for. And of course, Alan Wake, because it’s wacky as all hell and because it was my gateway to Twin Peaks.

With inspirations taken from Twin Peaks, Stephen King and House of Leaves, I'm curious if there are any other major shows, books, or movies that have influenced the team over the years, and if so what their favourites are? (Asked by Josh McGinn)

You’ve nailed all of them! The only one you missed is the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer – that one influenced Control quite a bit.

What has been Remedy's reaction to the virtual photography community? (Asked by @shinobi_space)

Our Executive Producer on Control, Juha Vainio, is a huge, huge fan and advocate of the virtual photography community and all your work. We’re constantly amazed at the different ways you find to be creative, and all the different lenses (pun unintended) you see our game through. It helps us appreciate it in a new light!

Is there any chance we are getting more Crossfire operations? (Jareson Vardisec, Facebook)

We enjoyed giving our take on the Crossfire universe and being able to further explore the characters created by Smilegate Entertainment, and as the publisher, the decision to give you more Operations would be on them.

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6th February 2022 Community Interview! Submit Your Questions for Remedy's Community Manager, Vida Starčević

As part of our ten-year celebration, we're excited to be talking to Vida Starčević (Community Manager at Remedy), about her job, what it is like living in Helsinki, and her memories of working on Control!

As the discussion is a community interview, we would love to pass along any questions you may have to her. Naturally, games that are still in development are still surrounded in secrecy, but topics like Control, Alan Wake Remastered, CrossfireX and the reveal of Alan Wake 2 are fair game. 

We're going to be selecting the best ones and emailing her a list on February 16th, so you have until the day before to get your questions in. Send us your questions via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter! Alternatively, you can also email us at alanwake.thesuddenstop(at)gmail(dot)com.

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18th August 2020 Extended Interview with Matthew Porretta [Dyna-Mite and *Check Notes* ...Darling's Underwear?]

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Alan Wake, we sat down with Matthew Porretta to talk about what it was like stepping into the recording booth for the first time and getting into the character of Alan Wake. That interview was recorded back in January, but as the project had been in motion for a while, the questions and topic were already nailed down a few years in advance for specifically an Alan Wake-focused interview. Below is not an in-depth conversation going into Matt's role as Dr Casper Darling (although I would love that opportunity as his answers in this part alone are amazing) but rather a couple of questions that we were dying to know, added onto the end of the Alan Wake interview. 

This part of the interview takes place just before the final question about what he would like to see in a potential Alan Wake sequel. If you haven't read our Alan Wake interview yet, you can catch up, HERE!

[Warning: If you haven't finished Control yet, we talk about the final few levels and about Casper Darling's story arc in particular.]

Rachel: About Control... and I have to ask this. So, for a really long time, Sam wanted to include a musical element in Alan Wake, and while it didn't happen, it was included with Dyna-Mite in Control. 

Matthew: Yeah!

How did you learn about that scene, and what was it like filming it? Because it was just so delightfully bizarre!

Oh, my God, Rachel. I found out that I was singing at [New York] Comic-Con.

Oh! Well, that's- *Laughs*

*Laughs* So literally when we were on the stage talking about the game, "and Matthew will be singing". 

*Laughs* Oof. 

I'm like, gulp, I am? Great. [Sam] had said something before we went on stage, but it was so funny. He's like "and so, you know, we want you to sing", [and] I'm like, "....okay, okay. Yeah, sure. Cool. Cool, cool, cool." 

I hadn't sung in like, twenty years. I had not sung professionally. I just kind of stopped singing, and so that was a bit daunting, but yeah, it turned out okay. It was very fun! I mean, that was the scariest part of that for me, once I [had agreed I] was like, "oh my god". I had to REALLY commit to that one. I couldn't half that. I had to really go for it because it was like... dude, you have to go for this because if you don't go for it, it's gonna suck. *Laughs* You know? So it was just do-or-die on that one, but I loved it. It was really fun!



Oh yeah, that's one of my favourite bits in the game.

It is so weird, right? It comes out of nowhere. It's like, there I am this nerdy guy and then I'm having a nervous breakdown in my underwear. Oh, by the way, I got to choose my underwear. I went with boxers. *Laughs* Like, "what do you think of these?" I'm like, "nooooo, no." 

*Laughs* Nice of them! 

Yeah, so I'm doing all these [recordings], the last thing you see me it's like, "...okay, is he going into the ether? Where is this guy going...to the astral plane? He's gone." And then suddenly, I'm dancing around to this 70s glam rock tune. Yeah, it was great! It was fun. You're like playing it- and I think [it's] very difficult to get to that point anyway? There's a certain part... I remember my son, who's a pretty savvy gamer was having trouble getting to a certain point. And then once he got to that, he just sat back and laughed because it was such a relief. You're like, oh my god. 

Oh yes. Yeah, I know exactly what part he got stuck on. I got stuck on the exact same moment.

[Quick Clarification: As this was recorded in January, Remedy has recently announced the Assist Upgrade for Control which will allow for player tailoring so that health regeneration and hit points can be personalised depending on your preference. They are also going to be including more checkpoints and soft saves on August 27th. Our discussion here was based on the release version of the game. The part we were talking about was the series of intense fights in the room with Hedron. During the fight, there's a series of towering platforms that will materialise to set the stage for the next fight. For me, it was possibly the hardest part of the game.]

It's the... I think it's like there's that big tower? Was that it? 

Yep. Yeeeep.

I watched him and he was like "oh god...", you know? He's like, "these are supposed to be hard, but not impossible". "Okay, all right." *Laughs* "Alright, I get it." 

Oof. Yeah, I... I was very brave myself during those moments and... I didn't have to keep going back and hide in the corner to try and get my health back at all. Yep. Very brave. *cough* Yeeeep. 

Yeah, my kids are my translators for games because I'm not a gamer. I do know quite a bit about them now, only because I been voicing and making them, but also because I've had kids. Alan Wake, Control, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, I mean, they play- oh, and Fortnite, everything! So now, I'm more savvy, but they really are my translators. If I ever go, "okay, what's going on" they'll say, "oh, this is..." *Laughs* You know, they accuse me of being old and then they've been explaining it.

A huge thank you to Matt for the interview and for taking the time out especially on a Sunday to talk about his work on the games!

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