Behind Radiohead KID A MNESIA: the Film & Video Game

A behind-the-scenes look at how Radiohead’s KID A MNESIA moved from artwork to video game, film and physical installation.

More and more creative projects are expected to live in several forms at once: music, art, game, film and in-person experience. But each move into a new medium means new tools, new constraints and new decisions about what to keep and what to change.

This Experience Briefing breaks down how the project came to life, why the different forms were created, and the processes behind each step of the journey.

The goal: give experience designers, producers and creative teams a firsthand look at how to translate a creative world across mediums.

The source material may be strong. The audience may already be there. But carrying the same creative world from one medium to the next – without losing what made it work – is less straightforward.

KID A MNESIA began with artwork created during the recording sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac. Decades later, that artwork became the KID A MNESIA Exhibition video game, then a film, and finally Motion Picture House, a travelling physical installation.

In this session, Matthew Davis, Founder of interactive media studio [namethemachine], will take us behind the scenes of the project’s creation and evolution.

Drawing on his work producing Radiohead’s KID A MNESIA Virtual Exhibition and film, alongside years building show control systems for live performance, Matthew will show the decisions behind each transformation, what was learned along the way, and the challenges of keeping one creative world intact across multiple mediums.

He’ll use original artwork, early layouts, renderings, reference material and work-in-progress content to tell the story.

The session will explore:

• The story behind KID A MNESIA and Motion Picture House, from the original recording-session artwork to today
• How the original physical art was translated into a digital environment using Unreal Engine
• How the world and imagery created for the game were taken into film
• How the team worked out the best way to experience that film in a physical space
• Why each form was created, and the decisions behind each transformation
• What was learned along the way, and the challenges of carrying one creative world across music, art, game, film and in-person experience

Who is it for?

• Experience designers and creative directors
• Creative producers and production teams
• Artists and teams working across music, film, digital and physical experiences
• Immersive, exhibition and cultural experience teams
• Anyone adapting an existing creative world or IP for a new format
• Fans of Radiohead

About Matthew Davis

Matthew Davis is an audio-visual producer, programmer and musician, whose passion for music leads him to discover new ways of interacting with art and technology.

He runs interactive media studio [namethemachine], where he produced Radiohead’s KID A MNESIA Virtual Exhibition and film. He has spent years inventing show control systems for live performance and building adaptive platforms for experiential and real-time environments. He also plays electronics for the LA Philharmonic, and has programmed Drake’s live show for the last fifteen years.

A musician since childhood, Matthew graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Economics, then studied Music Production & Programming at Berklee College of Music. Superposition, his ambient music project with longtime collaborator Justin Boreta (The Glitch Mob), was nominated for Best New Age Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

How to watch this Experience Briefing:

• Experience Briefings are available for WXO members only
• To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
• The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
• As a member, you’ll get live access to Experience Briefings like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 recordings

Timings:

Session #2 is suitable for those in the US or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

• London: 17:55 – 19:00
• Paris: 18:55 – 20:00
• Los Angeles: 09:55 – 11:00
• Santa Fe: 10:55 – 12:00
• Chicago: 11:55 – 13:00
• New York: 12:55 – 14:00
• São Paulo, Santiago & Buenos Aires: 13:55 – 15:00