Integrating Interactive the aesthetic of a Book and Interactive Media

I am a little inspired by Lumnio City. The game environment was built and shot, and the characters were animated over using a lot of the same techniques I am using.The look of the environment is unmistakably real, and captures the aesthetic of a small handmade environment with a prominent short depth of focus and the texture of the paper.

I was thinking a similar technique mixed with a book sculpture might add more interactivity while enhancing the feel of a book.

Book Artists

Brian Dettmer

Emma Taylor

Unity

I got unity running at home, and I have started the ball game. I got a bit of a problem getting the cubes to disappear, so I am going to head in early to try to get it worked out before class.

The Big Idea (as of 2 am Tuesday 01/19/16)

The Big Idea (subject to change without notice)

This semester I am focused on creating a form that blends cinematic animation, interactive media, and literature in a complimentary way. The shot that I am working on now is the interior of the building Tuba-Goose entered last semester. I am changing the location to a butcher shop because it adds to the dramatic effect, and horror films have a lot of paradigmatic camera and lighting techniques that would be interesting to apply to another medium. I thought it would be complimentary mix of media to make the interior all narrative text (people , shelves, everything except the goose would be extruded polygonal text), use motion capture to animate the people, and use a dolly zoom for a shot where the goose sees the butcher doing what butchers do.

I am not sure how I will texture everything or how I will organize the words so they function as characters and are readable as text, but I think motion capture will add an inherently human quality to the movement that should give me more freedom to deviate from anthropomorphic shapes while relaying the intended actions. I am hoping that when I have the movement for the scene, I will be able to create a model based on the text and the key frames that becomes reveals itself to the reader in a way that alludes to the internal dialogue of the goose when he realizes what is going on in the butcher shop (I want the audience to be thinking "Is that a person chopping off the head of... YES IT IS!" in parallel to the character's realization). This shot does not do much to exploit interactive media, but I am worried compounding too many distracting elements (e.g. putting a tilt interaction, prompting an expand gesture on the touch screen, or something of that nature) would drown the humble, quiet nature of a book.

Unity Game Design Breakdown

My digital popup book is going to run a tablet through the Unity game engine. 

Current Animatic

Execution

Progression of the animation is user driven through a swiping motion. Indication of when and how to swipe is given through "goose tracks"

Most of the animation is CGI mixed with live action, and I do not expect most tablets to be able to handle the level of detail and texture needed to render my model. So I am pre-rendering the footage and the swiping motion sets the speed and scrubs through the footage rather than moving characters in a 3D environment.