Analyzing Techniques of Fear, Horror, Exhilaration and Catharsis of Zedtown

Zedtown was a dark comedy horror, laughing its way gleefully into terrifying Apocalypse scenarios, but how exactly did it do that?

One of the more affective artworks that I have been a part of was the giant-scale live action theatre game of Zedtown. It was incredibly moving for the players, and they formed relationships and communities based on shared experiences and emotions over the years, and despite being several years since we ran it, players are still wondering when the next one will be.

It obviously effected people very personally and analysing the huge number of moving parts that went into creating this very affective experience at such a large scale is worthwhile for the creation of future artwork.

What is Affect?

Affect can be defined as the biological response to environmental and neurological stimuli.

“Affect is often, but not exclusively, used as a synonym for passion, sentiment, mood, feeling or emotion. Most discussion of affect in media theory and aesthetics revolves around questions of the production and transmission of affect”

- Shepard, 2019

It can also be used to remind us that we’re part of something greater, as all art emotionally affects us in some way. (Gameranx, 2019). If we actively embrace and intentionally include this aspect in our art, we connect with our audience in a greater fashion, creating experiences more moving and compelling than that of art created on a whim, simply for ourselves.

Affect in Games

While art can affect us, what makes games a unique art form is its interactivity. By interacting with the art we can become more invested and embodied, rather than just finding reflections of ourselves. We do not have to shift ourselves into the artwork, we can be the role within the game.

Through participation, players create narratives they will discuss for years, narratives usually borrowed from films but this time lived

- Watson, 2013

What Emotion were we trying to create?

Zedtown sought to balance a variety of emotions, balancing fear, horror and terror with joy, exhilaration, and excitement. These would manifest themselves in a variety of visceral responses:

Fear, horror and terror — in different phases we would notice players would be moving erratically, pupils dilated, short breaths, communication difficulty and pale skin. Players would describe rapid heartbeat and adrenaline surges. In colder weather we would have to also take care not to push this too much, as players could, if pushed too hard into this, go into shock or panic attacks, so we had to balance this Exhilaration.

Joy, exhilaration and excitement — players would shout happily, laugh, smile, move easily, flowing around obstacles, have slow breathing, congratulate each other, and describe pleasure and sense of belonging and comradery.

So, how did we elicit these responses?

Zedtown As Sport

Zedtown originally started as Experiential Theatre combined with some competitive aspects, but its big defining feature was always its storylines, actors, and drama. Still, many of the audience came along to “win” (“evacuate”, or to complete goals and earn achievements), and by acknowledging that Zedtown was a game meant that we could give incentives and rewards which played to the aspects of visceral competition which many players craved.

Zedtown as Experiential Theatre

It is more than just a game; Zedtown is an arena for performance, a realm where fans can enact their favourite zombie fantasies.

- Watson, 2013

As well as the mechanics of competition, Zedtown focused on the immersive techniques of experiential theatre.

As Gameranx (2019) notes, the feeling of “celebrating winning” is not necessarily the same as “gaming as an artform”, nor was it what made Zedtown deliver meaningful and emotional impact to its community. Professional actors delivered improvised but nuanced characters for the players to connect to, and embodied aspirational Faction Leaders and other roles, for players to initially develop a sense of belonging and loyalty to, before shattering those false divides in the face of a growing threat. Many other tools and techniques traditionally associated with theatre were used, ranging from, but not limited to, costumes, narrative scripting, makeup, props, set, special effects, lighting…the list goes on.

Ultimately this all added to the aesthetic and affective experience for the players, and meant that they took something more away from the experience than just the celebration of competition.

Locations and scouting

Possibly the most major component of the aesthetic impact was the location. As our Lead Director put it:

“[Its] all dependent on finding exactly the right location for zombie horror — so if you happen to own a deserted industrial park, run-down carnival or abandoned hospital please let us know!” (Watson, 2013)

Gameplay and narrative were fitted to the environment, shaping the mood and players affectiveexperiences. One of the more popular events we ran at Olympic Park several times, because it was in-part constructed to serve as on NSW disaster relief locations in the event of emergency, which the players realized soon after Hurricane Katrina made New Orleans arenas infamous. These locations added impact, awe, and isolation to the existing emotions players felt, embedding the experience more deeply than simply playing a game against a neutral background.

Many locations were dreamed about — Old Sydney Town for Colonial Horror, Darlinghurst Gaol for Prohibition and Lockdown, Wet & Wild Gold Coast (drained of water) for Carnival Horror, The Quarantine Station for Ghostly Terror, however often the games were played against locations that were designed to feel familiar — universities, showgrounds and football stadiums. This meant that players would get the eerie sense that there would be be a potential outbreak the next time they attended the Easter Show or a large-scale sporting event.

Ultimately, the location shaped the aesthetic experience of the players and the game, which is often the opposite of how many game design processes work.

Writing Sensitive Stories

Much more complex development can occur within narrative games, and this can spur development within yourself

- Gameranx, 2019

It is vital for the aesthetic art to be relevant to the audience in order to connect with them.

Prior to every event, Zedtown would review and rewrite its script and theming depending upon what was happening in the world, embedding symbolism for the players to latch on to, to feel something more meaningful within themselves and the experience. Horror instinctively serves as a Warning about, around or against something, and these were some of the warnings put into the material:

• Last Haven — Post-Apocalyptic Arena — Warning about the treatment of Refugees
• Divided City — Techno-Zombie Cold War in alternate-history Berlin — Warning about Fascism
• State of Emergency — Near-Future Noir at the start of the Outbreak — Warning about Fascism
• Dead South — Wild West — Warning about Fracking and Oil
• Twin Cities — Post-Apocalyptic University Gangs — Warning about demonizing Young People
• Wasteland — Mad Max themed — Warnings about the Climate and Water

By writing such stories and narratives to be sensitive to current events, it was hoped that people would take something more meaningful away from the experience — be more affected by it.

Getting Dressed for the Apocalypse

Survivors dressed in full army fatigues, cowboys sacrificing themselves to save their friends, an unstoppable zombie witch leaving terror in her wake and even a gun-wielding bride. People are performing, taking on characters, which is what the game is for. Renegades run rampant, heroes emerge and legends are born. (Watson, 2013)

Gameranx (2019) speaks of the importance of customizing your character as a form of affective emotional immersion into video games, and players would often turn up in costumes that were more reflective of, or parodied, their own identities. Such examples included nursing students turning up in medical scrubs prepared to get absolutely coated in fake blood, cowboys, brides, video game characters, dinosaurs, assassins, death, Jesus, and a whole host more.

Similarly, players would costume for the game itself, often dressing to a faction’s colours, theme, and mood, and mark themselves with makeup. This led to their own visceral embodiment and connection with the game, its story, its narrative and meaning and, ultimately, themselves. They also would make and take souvenirs, objects that they had embedded meaning and emotional resonance into, and carried their gear and souvenirs between sessions, increasing their own resonance with these objects.

Touchstones — Haptics and Props

“So if you’re trying to tell a story being able to touch or drag something can bring more emotional engagement or more realism.” (Clark, 2018)

A large aspect of the embodiment experience was the use of haptics and props. Survivors brought their own NERF blasters (or rolled up socks), would physically depress timers, move “fuel” cans around for missions, and even physically push a giant “payload” up hills. Physical exertion, movement, carrying, pushing, and firing all added to the sense of “being there”.

Roles, Actors, and Embodied Sensations

Sense of Power and Agency in a faceless zombie horde

Regular zombies could target survivors, and even named Actors, turning them permanently into zombies such as themselves, and had unlimited respawns, which gave the initially disadvantaged, short-ranged players a sense of purpose, power and agency. They had conquered death, something that they could not do in their own lives in the outside world, and this encouraged them to be bolder, and take risks that they may not have taken in their everyday lives.

The Witch, The Doof and other “Special Zombies”

The Witch was a terrifying, echoing horror, contained in a cage, a visible visceral threat that when she was released/escaped, would be invulnerable. She would run screaming into players bases, disrupting survivors’ plans, and served as a powerful leader and inspiration for the horde. Her screams would send players fleeing in terror, echoing around areas and through walls, bouncing and reverberating, seeming to come from everywhere at once, sowing panic, confusion and disorder while being cheered on by the ever-growing horde.

Another popular character was the Doof Zombie — a cheerleader and rally point — slow, shambling, pumping out a steady musical counterpoint to the Survivor’s Radio. They were a rumbling tank, which served as a mobile source of inspiration and hope for those who felt like getting tagged and turned was somehow “losing”.

Faction Leadership Characters

Faction Leaders were often the first character a player would encounter, serving initially as emotional anchor-point of safety, which would eventually be betrayed when some enterprising zombie turned them. When the faction leaders were alive, players would act more boldly, feeling powerful and well resourced, with strong faction loyalty. When each of them turned, the zombies boldness would grow, overtly threatening the players sense of order and normalcy.

Player’s Journey of Affect — Belonging vs Isolation vs Belonging

Players within this game would ultimately write their own stories, however a common narrative thread was one of Belonging, Isolation (Horror) and then Belonging again.

Sense of Belonging and Competitiveness

Initially, Players sort themselves into coloured factions, and would dress for their preferred faction, with their friends — their “squad”. They would have squad communications, and often dress thematically. They would then compete between the factions and squads to complete missions, quests and to gain resources.

Fear, Horror, Loneliness, and Isolation

This is an affect that often players sought to avoid. Getting tagged, losing squad members, or being left behind isolated, being cut off from your existing friends (when they had all turned to Zombies) meant that survivors would desperately try to make new friends, alliances and relationships.

Catharsis and Transformation

The vast majority of players would experience this, putting themselves into makeup (or getting elaborate prosthetics and make-up put on them). At this stage people would often change their mindset from ranged, jumpy, paranoid “survivors” to becoming part of the horde mindset — cooperative rather than competitive, visceral, and embodied rather than distanced and afraid. Predator, rather than Prey. It was important at this stage to encourage players to take on the feelings of the next stage, of Belonging, otherwise they could become Angry, bitter, and frustrated at themselves or others.

Many players loved this stage though, and many would enjoy starting as already transformed into a Zombie. The process of makeup and transformation was the aesthetic tipping point that Aristotle talked about, “the purge of the pity and fear””, a sublime moment of pleasure and pain that transfigures us and takes us away from ourselves (Kristine Harper, 2012).

One of Us and Sense of Belonging (Reward)

Players at this stage would have turned into zombies, and would be rewarded for cooperating with their previous “enemies”. This side was the largest numerically, so it was important to make sure this side had the best experiences, and we geared most for the rewards — aesthetically, emotionally, narratively, and practically.

Once we became zombies, I realised how much we had been missing out on by staying alive all this time. Being a zombie is way more competitive — every survivor you kill nets you a dog tag, so the most successful zombies are festooned with jingling, militaristic bling.

As a zombie, there’s more running, more chasing, and less worrying about what fresh hell the NPCs are leading you to. The zombie hub isn’t too bad either: there was some great music blaring, and zombies were much more free to just chill if they needed a break.

— Williams, 2016

Large Scale Phases of Affect

The larger scale emotional effects started to come into play the longer and larger we ran these events. People who played more events started to recognise these affects and work with them to increase their enjoyment of the game.

• Phase 1 — Tribalism — (Belonging) Loyalty, colours, confrontation, Survivors vs Survivors
• Phase 2 — Breakdown — Gradual Breakdown of Group Norms, growing threats
• Phase 3 — Survival — (Isolation) Survivors vs Overwhelming Odds of Bloodied Zombies
• Phase 4 — Undeath — (Belonging) Huge horde
• Phase 5 — The 1% — Approximately 1% of survivors escape to Evac, which created a sense of prestige and respect

Longer term players toyed with these phases and affects, using them to develop their own leadership roles, producing their own fan artworks and developing reputations, brands and fans of their own, which they then fed back into the narratives of the next event.

Transformation — Makeup, Latex and Chocolate Sauce

One of the more emotional points of embodiment and affect was act of Transforming into a Zombie.

First you lost your dogtags to the zombie who tagged you in the field.

Suddenly, the touchstones, equipment and often even phones that players relied on until now was stashed in bags and placed mournfully into cloak rooms. Payers then covered themselves in latex “wounds” and chocolate sauce “blood”. The makeup artists also sometimes took on the emotional burden over players going from paranoid, sometimes aggressive and angry, survivors, into being cooperative playful members of a greater group. A green headband was placed around the players heads, and they then needed to cooperate with people who they’d thought of as “enemies”.

Then, covered in “blood” (mostly chocolate sauce and food colouring), you would set out to hunt your former friends, making new ones along the way.

Music and Radio

One of the more ephemeral, but still important immersion pieces was Music and Radio. Zombie countdown timers played Thriller to a countdown clock, each separate event played its own genre of radio which the survivors could listen to for mission prompts and survival tips, all wrapped in the “last radio station on earth” vibe.

“On the day we host radio Zedtown…where survivors can call in, coordinate with each other, find out about the mission and quests and can communicate through social media.”

- Sharples, 2014)

A lot of music was pre-scripted, to coincide with thematic moment or moods, but players could call in to request songs. An example playlist (that has been added to) from Dead South can be found here.

Often music was more cheerfully, ironically, upbeat, in order to encourage movement and enthusiasm, as a counterpoint to the terror that many players would feel.

There was also a mobile Doof Zombie, constantly serving as an emotive, often humorous, counterpoint to the Survivor’s Radio, constantly belting out Thriller, Ride of the Valkyries, and Teddy Bear’s Picnic becoming audience favourites, as well as darker and more threatening pieces if survivors were not taking things seriously enough.

Night Mode vs Day Mode

One of the most often commented upon techniques of aesthetic impact involved running the game during the night instead of the day. During the day, the survivors could see further, while during the night games darkness and light became a claustrophobic tool, one that could be used like a scalpel to tune players actions, experiences, and areas of play.

This difference made the game harder for the survivors initially as they were louder and more noticeable, but later it would become more difficult to find quieter survivors, many of whom would try to blend in or pretend that they were already turned, altering their behaviour and emotions, which produced a subtler and more nuanced experience.

Evidence of Transformation After The Event — Fan Art

Many Zedtown players would be so affected by their experiences that they would create their own fan works. People made hundreds of Youtube videos, journalists wrote huge numbers of articles on their experiences describing their bodies reactions to the experience:

You’re halfway down a closed-in stairwell, heart pounding, ears straining as you prepare to check around the next blind corner. Someone upstairs yells “zombies coming!” so you rush down the stairs, uncertain of what’s below you but knowing that certain death is somewhere above you. And then you spill out of the stairs to a horrible sight — great, open spaces full of wandering zombie hordes. (Williams, 2017)

The evidence of affect is so strong that players, who have not played the game in 3 years, are still uploading artwork, asking for interviews with cast and crew, trying to find out when the next one will be. Crew are still writing scenarios (ones that do not involve viruses!), looking at locations, and sharing memes.

Conclusion

Zedtown was an embodied artwork that affected players, cast and crew in an almost incalculable number of ways.

It still stuck with us. It scared us. It taught us. It transformed us.

It created an experience that transfigured pleasure and pain, survival and terror, into something meaningful, beautiful and unique.

Maybe that is why it’s been so hard to run it again in Australia. Maybe that’s why we miss it so much.

“New gadgets and genres have always brought with them marketing techniques and governmental interventions focused on high emotional reactions, accompanied by concerns about supposedly unprecedented and unholy new risks to rational conduct by audiences”

- Malinowska & Miller, 2017

References

Clark, J. (2018, September 14). Do You Feel What I Feel? Medium. https://immerse.news/do-you-feel-what-i-feel-cc1a3deda071

Gameranx. (2019, November 10). How Do Video Games Have An Emotional Impact On Us? https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=VWKpDoPmADY&feature=emb_logo

Kristine Harper. (2012, February 24). Catharsis: The purifying aesthetic experience. David Report. https://davidreport.com/201202/catharsis-purifying-aesthetic-experience/

Laurie Goodridge. (2019). Zedtown ‘Doof’ zombie, Laurie Goodridge. Artstation. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/EVoBdA

Malinowska, A., & Miller, T. (2017). Sensitive Media. Open Cultural Studies, 1(1), 660–665. https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2017-0060

Sharples, S. (2014, October 7). Zombie threat to Sydney with planned invasion. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/inner-west/zombie-game-called-zedtown-is-coming-to-the-university-of-sydney/news-story/e5e52881169a29e04cab4f06ec3c4d16

Shepard, B. (2019, November 10). Affect. The Chicago School of Media Theory. https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/affect/

Watson, M. (2013, October 22). Zombies Attacked and I Am Glad They Did: A Day in Zedtown. Concrete Playground. https://concreteplayground.com/melbourne/arts-entertainment/culture/zombies-attacked-and-i-am-glad-they-did-a-day-in-zedtown

Williams, H. (2016, September 29). Zedtown Is A Real Life Zombie Apocalypse, With Nerf Guns. Gizmodo Australia. https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/09/we-spent-a-day-fighting-zombies-with-nerf-guns/

Williams, H. (2017, December 28). Zedtown Is Best When Its Just You And The Zombies. Kotaku Australia. https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/12/zedtown-is-best-when-its-just-you-and-the-zombies/

Zedtown. (2017). Melbourne Mod Team. https://www.facebook.com/zedtown/photos/t.711786805/1712562392117703/?type=3