EP#113 Zach Tinker

Kevin Lane's Spill Your Guts

Whether it’s the endless terrors waiting around every corner in Raccoon City in the beloved Resident Evil franchise, or the fog shrouded streets of the nerve frying Silent Hill series, horror in video gaming has become one of the most popular and effective ways to scare audiences. You’re not just watching and waiting to see the grizzly fates of the characters, you’re controlling it.

And as technology has allowed gaming to become more sophisticated and immersive, it has created a relatively new stage for performers. Using technology like motion capture, characters in games are now not just voiced by actors but also performed by them. It’s exciting in gaming to watch some of the great work actors are doing.

This year Supermassive Games released The Quarry, a spiritual follow-up to their surprise 2015 hit, Until Dawn. Directed by Will Byles and written by Graham Reznick and Alex Farnham, it’s an edge of your seat ride set at a summer camp and populated by some of your favorite genre faces like Lance Henriksen, Ted Raimi, Lin Shaye and David Arquette.

It’s a total blast and is filled with great characters and performances, though, in our opinion, the character Jacob steals the show. Jacob is sort of the classic slasher jock character on the surface but it’s one of the game’s best sleight of hand tricks that he is nothing like what you expect. It’s a wonderfully nuanced performance and one of gaming’s best. The character is played by Zach Tinker.

Zach has an extensive background doing short films and in television but we weren't familiar with his work before getting into The Quarry. He enters the game and is funny and charming, and you immediately like him. Then he says or does something idiotic and you think “ah, here’s the meathead of the group,” but it’s all a very clever bit of misdirection in Zach’s performance. As you play the game further, the depth and nuisance Zach brings to this character is one of the games many pleasures.

In short, he’s a scene stealer.

Zach and SYG host Kevin Lane chat about the challenges of working with motion capture, the many ways the pandemic almost kept this game from happening, how to love your character even if he is a dumbass, and working with genre royalty. Zach is fun and warm, but unlike his character in the game, very thoughtful and curious. If you haven’t played The Quarry, here’s your spoiler warning as Kevin and Zach do give things away.

And if you haven’t played the game you’re missing out on one of the year’s best horror offerings. So, grab your swimsuit and mosquito repellent and let’s head off to summer camp with Zach Tinker.

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