The core team behind Grand Theft Hamlet, the film made entirely inside of GTA Online, have shared new insights into the making of their documentary. From Rockstar’s support of the film to reponses of criticism, the group revealed all in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA). Actors Sam and Mark along with director Pinny wrote back to fans asking their most burning questions on Friday following its streaming release.
Rockstar’s Response
Since the announcement of this film, GTA fans have questioned its legality due to how heavy-handed Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive can be with community projects. Just in the past month or so, a few popular mods have been hit with takedown requests. However, it is quite clear why the film was allowed to come to fruition. It does not infringe of any copyright as mods tend to do. For example, the GTA logo is never used. Even the post and trailer do not contain material that would confuse people as a real production by Rockstar themselves.
One fan did ask if Rockstar or Take-Two contacted the team working on the film. Sam gave what might be a surprise reveal. He said that they were aware of the project very early into development and have been nothing but supportive of it.
Tackling Griefers
When we’ve reported on this film, some avid GTA Online players had wondered how the team managed to do this all whilst the Pegassi Oppressor Mk II rained hell from the skies. It turns out, they did not have much of an issue with them despite filming taking place pre-nerf. Mark played GTA Online from launch until around 2015 so he missed the introduction of the Oppressor Mk II until his return for the film in 2020. The actor says that for all the many times people killed them during filming, he can’t remember an Oppressor being the murder weapon. They were used by the team to get around the map quickly though.
Why GTA Online?
The reason why GTA Online was chosen as the stage was also revealed. Director Pinny shares they did evaluate several multiplayer games such as Rockstar’s Red Dead Online and even Minecraft which is the only other game to sell more copies than GTA V. The main reason why GTA won was due to the vast array of functions to expressive creativity. Pair that with its graphics, popularity and Los Santos setting and it led to a great playground.
When asked why the film was not made within an invite-only lobby instead of a public one to avoid setbacks or even FiveM, Sam had a great response.
“There’s something about the chaos of a public server, and the lack of control you have there, that I think makes it a live experience. For me, if I think about the best, most powerful experiences I’ve had in a theatre, it’s when there’s an edge of danger, when you genuinely don’t know what’s going to happen next. When everything is controlled I think things can become a bit safe and boring and predictable. So we made a very conscious decision to NOT use director mode, NOT use any kind of mods.” – Sam
He went onto say that they were aware and fansicated by GTA RP servers such as NoPixel. However, they wanted to work with the base game’s limitations on PlayStation to show anyone could do something like this. As he notes, “restrictions and limits can really encourage creativity”. That certainly shines through a few times during the film.
What’s Next?
One fan asked what other plays does the team think could work in GTA Online just like Hamlet. Pinny says they think Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar or any of Shakespeare’s tragedies can work. An idea they did have was The Tempest in Fortnite.
As for a potential return in GTA 6, Sam and Mark both say they are excited for it. Mark has played the past 5 GTA games fully including 100%ing GTA V. He also penned GTA 6 is his most anticipated game of the year. Much like most of us. Pinny teases they want to make more films like this and have ideas in the works. They are open to suggestions of what game to take it to next. A few fans expressed interest in seeing Red Dead Redemption 2’s Red Dead Online used and I’d agree.
Pinny also mentions the full production that took place back in the day, which was livestreamed, will be coming shortly.
Why The HUD?
Another common criticism I’ve seen from GTA fans online (who have not watched the film but just a trailer) is that the in-game HUD is enabled. Mark and Pinny explain the reasoning behind this creative decision. Firstly, the HUD is not always on. Mark states they chose to have it enable at times because it’s a documentary of the making of their production. It was supposed to give an authentic experience of what it looks like to play GTA Online. Of course, for cinematic shots the HUD is off.
Pinny also chose to address complaints that some of the scenes were staged. The documentary director explains creative choices have to be made with every doc such as cutting down hundreds of hours of footage to just a couple.
“Everything that happened in the documentary happened for real – and we wanted to make it as authentic as possible by using a non modded game – we recorded our genuine feeds from Playstation – which is why the HUD is in there – we wanted it to have the genuine feel of game play.”
How It Was Made
The game was simply recorded using a 4K capture card and in-game chat was used for audio. It offers less quality than PlayStation Party Chat but lips of the GTA character will move. Though Sam and Mark did record their own audio with an additional microphone so it sounded much better. In terms of total footage, they recorded around 300 hours.
If you want to take a look at the full AMA thread, you can right here. Grand Theft Hamlet is currently in cinemas and is also now available to stream at home exclusively on MUBI. There’s even a 30 day free trial.
I managed to catch an early screening of the film back in December. It both a delightful and hilarious watch. You can check out my review of the film here. Don’t just take my word for it, it has a 93% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and audiences have shared their love for the film on sites such as Letterboxd. Are you going to watch Grand Theft Hamlet in cinemas or at home? Let us know down in the comments.
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