Neon Bible

Vincent Morisset, director and creator of www.beonlineb.com and many other interactive videos.

It is believed that he pioneered this whole interactive music video movement.

Here's an article telling us more about Vincent Morisset's innovation and a few lines as to how he does it.

“It’s essentially the same technology used in video installations where insane programs like MAX/MSP Jitter are required. However, in these tests it was accomplished using just Flash and a webcam, so anyone with a newer Mac laptop could potentially be involved.”

3D animation for everyone

Since our meeting with Fiachra, I have looked upon the engine and here's one of the success stories I found. Muvizu is an application built from Unreal engine 3. If we do decide on creating some of the project's environment in 3D, this application is worth giving a try. It provides tutorials, help in the forum and you've got a number of people in the community to help you out in achieving your goals.

Unreal engine

We spoke with our Supervisor and we were told to check out Unreal engine for our project. He suggested that maybe we can create a 3D environment rather than create a film. The engine provides the platform and tools needed to develop cutting-edge 3D projects.

Here's the current technology Unreal engine uses. 


Here's Unreal engine on films.


The engine sounds promising however, learning a whole new technology, not to mention, scripting for our project isn't advisable especially on such restricted time.

Special FX make-up test

Since we're making an interactive film, not only should actors know how to portray the characters (creepily) but they should also appear that way.

We got in touch with a recent graduate from DKIT and we got her to do a make-up test on both me and Justine.

We both thought the end results were great so we're going to get her to help us in our project.

There are before and after pictures which I will upload soon.

Some inspiration for our video

Creepy Enter Sandman by Metallica

Kinect for our interactivity?

Based around a webcam-style add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller, through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typical gamer base. Kinect competes with the Wii Remote with Wii MotionPlus and PlayStation Move & PlayStation Eye motion control systems for the Wii and PlayStation 3 home consoles, respectively.

We were thinking of trying to achieve this type of technology into our game.

Ground Rules

Every member should attend the meeting

• If a member cannot attend due to whatever reason, he/she must inform the Project Manager beforehand.

• He/she shall make the effort to update himself/herself of whatever he/she has missed.

Members must attend their respective Project Development classes (according to their roles)

Meet with Supervisor once a week and update on progress

If there is any problem with one member, it shall be discussed immediately to avoid further misunderstandings

If having difficulty with the assigned task, do not hesitate to ask for help. It is a group project and the group is going to help each other out


These are just a few ground rules we set up for our group. If we agree on other things, we'll update this.

Looking into technology we can use

Asylum 626, the sequel to the game (Hotel626) we were all gushing about uses head tracking technology, which allows the users to control the action via webcam.

e.g. Chainsaw closet scene

                 Users can wave their hands to dodge the blade

                                            or in other parts, live video of players will appear on reflected surfaces.

Head-tracking technology

Conventionally, one of the challenges of sound reproduction using headphones is that the sound field moves with the rotation of the listener's head. VIP-1000 and MDR-DS8000 have Gyro Sensors attached to the headsets. They calculate the rotating angle of the head and based on the angle, make data adjustments to fix the sound fields using digital signal processing. In other words, real time adjustments of HRIR from the source to the ears are made as the head moves.

Therefore, even when the listener looks to his/her side wearing the headphone, the sound field will stay fixed, allowing him/her to enjoy close-to-live sound images with a realistic sound field. This can be explained from an acoustic physiological point of view as a phenomenon of sound stimulation reaching motor center in the head becoming closed loop. By switching on and off the head-tracking switch of the headphone indicated in the above diagram, it is clear that head movement largely affects the sound positioning

The principle of head-tracking technology

Human beings determine the distance and direction of the source of the sound through a kind of triangulation. However, when a person rotates his/her head, the brain gets confused unless these characteristics synchronically change with the head movements. As a result, the sound image tends to be fixed within the listener's head or in the original position. This is one of the reasons why the sound appears to originate inside the listener's head when using conventional headphones. Although it is technically possible to keep the sound image outside the listener's head by adjusting the patterns of reflected waves from the wall, the sound image tends to get fixed inside the head when the person is just listening to sound without a visual image. Head-tracking technology is a solution to this problem. By constantly tracking head movements, real time adjustments are provided for the characteristics of sound transmission from the source to the ears, thus, enabling constant and continuous accurate triangulation and resulting in a clear image of the fixed position in the front. Piezoelectric vibration gyros were adopted for tracking.

Whew! Presentation finito!

So, we had our presentation. It was nerve-wrecking. Thanks to the sensespinners for giving us sweets and this made some of us quite hyper.

When we were asked by our mates in the class how it went, we didn't know what to make of it. It was neither bad nor good. So that was kind of disappointing. Plus we thought we made it clear in our presentation that our project isn't a film. It was duly noted a couple of times, in fact. But, we do understand that perhaps we didn't explain it right or maybe the lecturers were just really tired after a long day of hearing everyone's ideas.

NEWS:

We got Fiachra as our supervisor!

Booth and components

The video

The narrative will be shot in first person point of view to make the user feel more immersed. Here's a short clip of what Claire filmed for her music video so you get the idea of the look and feel of our proposed project.

Audio in our presentation & Meeting with Pat

Here are our inspirations:

nightmare on elm street

nursery rhymes

the grudge

paranormal activity

nursery rhymes

1,2, freddy's coming for you
3,4, better lock your door
5,6, grab your crucifix
7,8, better stay up late
9,10, never sleep again

Late last night and the night before,
         Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers,
                knocking at the door.
I want to go out, don't know if I can,
         'cause I'm so afraid
           of the Tommyknocker man.

• surround sound is key for our project
• use of the three types of sound:
  concrete
  musical
  voice
• the use of very low notes and high notes

• sound mapping

Brief Storyline

YOU are asked to house-sit for your aunt and uncle.


Suddenly, weird sounds and an unexplained visit from a young girl lead to the unraveling of a terrifying experience.



you will be given a chance to survive based on your decisions throughout the night...



Of course, this is still interactive and we'll be incorporating technologies such as the eye-toy, code device and others. Suggestions?

Presentation next week!

We just had our mock presentations and glad we got to practice. Now all we need is to make our presentation in Flash and finalize the research that we want to put in.

Mood Board

Here is a photo of our mood board. Basically to show what we want the users to feel.

Limbo Game

“Boy uncertain of his sister’s faith enters limbo” is the tag line of the absolutely beautiful game currently in development by Playdead, an independent game studio based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The game takes on a journey of a boy that transverses through the ‘horrible world’ challenged by obstacles which gradually more difficult and more hostile (see video interview at the bottom with Mads Wibroe, the producer). Somewhat influenced by film noir, the game is a solitary, dark, black, silhouette filled journey filled with soft depth blur to describe mood. No text, no music, in “Limbo” you are in the game, alone, in the dark.

The Playdead game studio was founded by Arnt Jensen and Dino Patti in 2006. Limbo is Playdead’s first production and its first game to be published.
Limbo won Excellence In Visual Art and Technical Excellence award at the IGF earlier year. You can read the full interview with the PlayDead’s CEO Dino Patti on IFC.com.

You can find more information on the game by visiting limbogame.org." -http://www.creativeapplications.net/games/limbo-games/

Spooktacular

Here's a video of our journey in Spooktacular event in Kells.

F.e.a.r.

First Encounter Assault Recon is a horror themed first person shooter game. F.E.A.R. is a fictional special forces team which is called to deal with a supernatural event. The user is playing as the Point Man who possesses superhuman reflexes and the task is to uncover the secrets of the paranormal that is in the form of a little girl named "Alma".

The Good:

• FEAR elevates gun battles to a cinematic level  
• Creepy and atmospheric  
• Visually amazing--you will smell the smoke  
• Sounds incredible  
• Wild and fast-paced multiplayer. 

The Bad:

• The game is a system hog  
• Some environments and enemies recycled a bit too much  
• Some loose ends in the plot don't tie up as well as they could.

 http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/fear/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary%3Bread-review&page=3

This game has the similar look and feel that we want for our project. We will not be using graphics but we'll be using real life footage and hopefully we will achieve the same acceptance this game received back when it first came out.

Here is a short clip from the game:

Stephen King novels

Another source of inspiration that came to our mind regarding writing wonderful narratives is Stephen King. The way his novels depict a character and the way he describes a certain scene or situation makes you feel immersed into his own world. That's one of the main reasons why he is one the most successful suspense writers in the world.

Carrie

Bag of Bones

Dolores Claiborne

Dreamcatcher

The Girl who loved Tim Gordon

Misery

The Shining

Tommyknockers

The Shining and Tommyknockers in particular, are two films that we're going to take some things from.

Young, innocent girls portrayed as something fearful.

A nursery rhyme, something supposedly sweet but somehow becomes frightening.

Spooktacular Event Experience

As planned, we all drove to Kells for the Spooktacular Event as part of our research. The place was well done up and it was pitch black everywhere. We had to enter the tunnel and we split ourselves into two groups to make the experience more terrifying. We had to enter a tunnel where we literally had to feel our way into so we would know where to go. The space was very tight and enclosed. Good thing, I had the camcorder with me so I used the night vision to see where we were going. They had good props and the feel and design of the place was indeed spooky. After the tunnel, we had to go into the forest.

10 minutes into the forest, we heard a scream and the lights were out!!!

It seemed as if we were in a slasher film and it was when the staff wearing freaky outfits came to us and asked us to go with them, we realized the power was cut. So unfortunately, we had to go home. Looking forward to next year though.

The video will be uploaded soon. 

Dead Frontier Online Game

Here is a zombie-killing online game we stumbled upon.

Our narrative is still focused on psychological however, we decided to put up this game to broaden our perspectives as to the other types of horror.

Here's a short review of the game

By Lynda Mc Donald 

Edited & published by Michael Hartman

Dead Frontier is a free browser-based survival-horror MMO. For the first time in a web-browser players have the option of surviving in a post-apocalyptic world plagued with zombies either single-handedly or in multi-player mode.

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/video-games/mmo/reviews/46437.aspx#ixzz13ahgnn6A

The answer to why people hate

"The common thread that weaves violent political movements together is fear. It is not the only motivating factor behind political violence, nor necessarily the most obvious, but it is virtually always there. Whenever we ask why people hate, or why they are willing to kill or die for a cause, the answer is invariably fear." -- James F. Mattil


 

Meet the Team

Project Manager & Storyboard Artist 

Justine Gika

Visual Director/Designer/Camera
Claire O'Neill

 

  
Programmer/Camera work
Conor Moore

Programmer/Blogger/Photography
Rochelle Lazaro

  

 

The Most Terrifying Experience in Ireland

Haunted Spooktacular in Kells, Meath is opening its doors again to everyone looking for a scary experience this coming Halloween.

The Event

Fear surrounds the Grove, it goes beyond your imagination. Not every soul has made it to the next crossing. At the Grove, the dead still walk. We have gone over the edge with the biggest and scariest Halloween ever. Screams come above, below, and all around you. At the Grove we have brought the fear level to your ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE.

This is not to be missed.

This unique experience is more gruesome than any other year. We focus on your worst nightmare, that's why we are different.

Are you brave enough to face the Eerie Graveyard, Tunnel of Horrors, Haunted Woodland Walk & much much more.
And Remember this is not for Children.

 

Events like these require thorough planning and we'd like to experience for ourselves if it really is as terrifying as they're claiming it to be. The first week of class we were asked what we wanted the audience to feel during or after interacting with our project. We all got together because we had a common ground. We wanted the users to feel afraid, uneasy and overwhelmed. The event organizers had the same idea so perhaps we'd see for ourselves if they got what they were aiming for. It'll also broaden our perspectives on other ways to approach the project and maybe it'll give us an idea on our narrative.

Goosebumps

When we were younger, we were big fans of the Goosebumps books and tv series. In some series of the books, you had the privilege to choose your own adventure. We were around 7 or 8 years old back then so this made it scarier for us.

Goosebumps is one of our main inspirations.

A short narrative... not purely aimed at kids. Believable or convincing enough for a person to feel like he/she IS the main character--that whatever it is that we show will affect his/her way of thinking.

Goosebumps website/Games section

Goosebumps Horrorland

Goosebumps website/TV Series

Night of the Living Dummy. This scared us a lot when we were little. It put us off dolls, dummies, toys and the like.

Fear and the Brain

"Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger—if we couldn't feel it, we couldn't protect ourselves from legitimate threats. But often we fear situations that are in no way life-or-death, and thus hang back for no good reason. Traumas or bad experiences can trigger a fear response within us that is hard to quell. Yet exposing ourselves to our personal demons is the best way to move past them."-http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/fear

Find out the science of fear: what triggers it, the way it affects us and how we remember fearful events.

Fewdio: We create nightmare

Conor stumbled upon them ages ago. They create short stories, make it into a short film and post them up on youtube.

Here is one of their works which we think should be applauded for its style.

Would you rather have knowledge or happiness? Faith or certainty? Ten thousand dollars or proof that Hell exists? 

 

For our project, we're thinking of creating an audio visual experience wherein the user can immerse himself/herself into. So we're researching on different approaches on narratives.

Asylum 626

Check storyboard

Check out site here

This is a sequel of Hotel 626. Another brilliant work from Snack Strong Production. Not as interactive as Hotel 626 but still gives the same experience.

storyboard

Log in screen

Hotel 626

A Snack Strong Production
 
Play it here
hotel626

 
Found this website in 2008. This is one of our inspirations.


If you haven't played it yet, it's your chance to do so now.