Narrative Guide

Character

H

Male, 24 years old, 90kg, 174cm.
H is an undergraduate student in Malaysia. He always blames others for anything that goes against his will. He does not value his relationships and takes everything for granted. He comes from an upper class family, yet he never appreciates his parents hard work, and even blames his parents for spoiling and nurturing all his undesired behaviours/personalities. The only thing he cares about is himself. He has no respect for anyone, not his friends, lecturers, and certainly not his parents.

Premise

To escape from a Jigsaw fanatic’s test, an egocentric student needs to learn to be selfless.

Setting

Location

Plaza Rakyat

An abandoned plaza in Pudu Road, central Kuala Lumpur.
A mixed-use skyscraper complex in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia initiated during the 1990s. However, the project, which had already commenced construction, stalled due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and remains abandoned as of 2019. (Source)
Utilized by a Jigsaw fanatic and set up as the game room.

Time

Starts when the student wakes up on Saturday, 22nd December 2018.

Theme

What we hear may not be the truth.

Anti-Theme

Players will think that what they hear is what is happening. This is anti-theme as it guides the player to believe what they’ve heard such as the instruction from the cassette.
At the last part, the character will hear the sound that represents betrayal. In other words, the sound will lead the character/player to not believe others and overcome the challenge by himself/herself.

Structure

Character wakes up at an abandoned underground car park. He is wearing an unremovable bucket on his head. There is another victim across the space. They communicate and build a form of relationship. At the last test, the character will hear the electrical hacksaw sound which represents betrayal. Thus, it leads the player to think only one character can survive. This conflicts the relationship both characters have just built a few minutes ago.

The theme is what we hear may not be the truth. In this scenario, the victim across the hall is the psychopath. What the character hears throughout the whole game is prerecorded. The owner of the voice is the previous jigsaw test’s victim, who is dead and the body is left in the scene.

Mood

Foul.

When players play the game, they will see blood/corpse on the ground, rusty objects, and dark tone background. This implies the character is in an uncomfortable setting and creates an unsettling feeling among players.
As the character is playing the audio/cassette tape, the screen is applied with noise/static filter. The filter is not obvious but noticeable. This application is to stress the importance of the audio information with an unpleasant filter to emphasize the mood.
Besides the background music at the end of the game, the rest of the sound such as cry, scream, and disturbing machine sound are put into the game to match the foul mood. The background music is played only at the end of the game to tell the player the game is ended and relieve them from previous unpleasant experience.
When the character is cutting his body part, the screen will be ‘splashed’ with blood. Besides indicating both character and player’s visions are blocked by blood, it also serves the purpose of enhancing the foul mood.

Conflict

Character needs to self-harm (which may cause character bleeds to death) to survive: self-harm is an action conflicted with the idea of survive.
Both characters build a relationship in the middle of the deadly game. However, the sound that represents betrayal (at the last part) will create a conflict in their relationship.

Scene

With the limited vision (bucket) and blood splashes in the eyes, character/player will have limited vision (only half the space to be seen).

Chain

One man and one woman are chained in a space, with each at different side.

Bucket

Three persons are wearing a mechanical bucket with only eye split on their head.

Finger Drawer

A machine that has a locked drawer. Once a finger is inserted through a small hole, the balance of scale will be broken. It will complete the circuit and the drawer will be unlocked and opened.

Car park (line)

Abandoned underground car park as the background.

Cassette Dictaphone

Character has a Cassette Dictaphone near him, within his reach distance.

Exit Door

Door to exit the room.

Digital Timer

Use to countdown the time before character gets electrocuted.