rethinking

Yesterday’s feedback made me rethink some of the things I had planned. The subject matter of the narrative, for example… I know it may seem arbitrary to choose a trip to France as the storyline for a narrative.  In fact, I feel like I was so excited to have settled on an idea of having an interactive story that I maybe didn’t pick the most thoughtful or profound visual content. The problem is that even if I were to think of a thought-provoking story, how can I film it in a way that’s plausible without having to involve things I don’t have access to? Any footage I film in everyday life would be just as mundane, if not more so, than the footage I took in France. I figured I might as well go with the more interesting settings. I’m not that happy with the narrative, itself. I think I made it too cartoonish and stupid; I just felt like humor was a way of excusing the fact that it’s not a particularly amazing story. I worry that it doesn’t really induce a state of consciousness, but I figured that as long as it’s done in a way that seems diegetic and immersive, it could still be worthwhile. However, I do know that I have to make it more interactive than just saying here’s some cool footage I got, let’s just put a greenscreen camera interface on it and pretend it’s you recording it. That’s the easy way out. So I was thinking of how I could break up that sight-seeing stage into segments where you have additional ways of interacting with the surroundings.  One thing I thought of is to turn it into a first-person shooter (since I’m referencing video games, in a way). Maybe while you’re looking at the outdoor statues, something comes and attacks you and you have to pull the trigger of a fake gun to shoot it. I could try simple animation techniques and use some pre-made green screens. It would be hard doing this after the fact, since I didn’t shoot this footage with these things in mind. I just feel like the project needs something else at this point because 6 choices aren’t really that interactive.  I also need to think of a better way for people to hold earth. I thought of maybe having a joystick that needs to be held at all times? If not, then maybe make people wear some kind of “gaming visor” or something. I still don’t know exactly..