Teenage clicks
THE INSIDE TRACK ON E4’S VIRTUAL-REALITY DRAMA KISS ME FIRST…
1 IT CENTRES ON AN IMMENSE VIRTUALREALITY WORLD CALLED AZANA…
Written by Bryan Elsley, co-creator of noughties teen sensation Skins, Kiss Me First follows both the real and virtual life of Leila (Tallulah Haddon), a lonely 17-year-old addicted to the huge online world of Azana. “It’s this Google-like entity,” explains Elsley, “which functions as a search engine, as social media, as a shop, but at its heart is an interactive VR game. You can fight, you can socialise, you can race planes. You can live a whole fantasy life.”
2 BUT IT’S NOT EXACTLY READY PLAYER ONE…
“It’s a portrait of an enduring, troubled and argumentative friendship,” says Elsley, referring to the online bond between loner Leila and her first official friend, the hedonistic and impulsive Tess (Simona Brown). The two meet through Red Pill, a secret group of “nerds, freaks and losers” hidden away in a digital paradise, but soon connect in the real world; that is, before Tess suddenly disappears. Cue Leila (Azana name: ‘Shadowfax’) taking over Tess’ online identity (‘Mania’) to uncover the truth behind a sinister mystery.
3 IT’S A MIX OF LIVE ACTION AND COMPUTER ANIMATION…
Kiss Me First is adapted from the young-adult novel by Lottie Moggach, whose story was about nefarious chatrooms rather than allencompassing VR. To prevent the visual tedium of watching characters type at computers, however, Elsley worked with animation studio Axis to design a dazzling online world.
“The main thing I wanted was character nuance in the faces of the avatars,” says Elsley. “Computer games have high levels of reality but faces often have that slightly glassy expression, so we spent a lot of time discussing what level of life-likeness the characters would have in order for them to be believable.” Rest assured, the animation cost “a fucking fortune”.
4 IT TACKLES THE DARK SIDE OF SOCIAL MEDIA…
More than anything, Kiss Me First is the story of how social media can both bring us together, and tear us apart. The darker part of this theme is represented by the enigmatic Adrian (Matthew Beard), the all-powerful ruler of Red Pill, who is seemingly grooming followers for mysterious ends. “My feeling about social media is that it’s not social media that is the problem,” says Elsley, “it’s people that are the problem. When it comes to Adrian, I’m trying to work out what it is that’s so boring about life that some people only enjoy the exercise of power over others.”
5 BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT’S JUDGEMENTAL…
Teenage lives have changed a lot since Elsley created Skins in 2007. “The innovation we had in Skins was that people actually spoke to each other on mobile phones,” he says. “Now everyone is interfaced with media at any point of any day.”
But Kiss Me First doesn’t portray this as a bad thing. “We never say that because that’s not true,” Elsley says. “When I grew up, they used to say that young people watch too much television. And now they say, ‘How can we get young people watching television again? They’re on social media, actually talking to each other and defining themselves – that’s terrible!’” Stephen Kelly
Kiss Me First starts on Channel 4 in april.