Final

For my final project for the module I intend to look into the "cut and paste theory" and "forking pathways". The main basis of my work will spawn from researching and taking inspiration from the 2000 movie, "Requiem for a Dream" website produced by Hi Res. I'll attempt to produce a similar piece using another movie as subject matter; fluidly combining the narrative and themes within the movie and presenting them in the non-linear interactive nature of digital media.

My first task will be to choose the movie I wish to adapt. Several options immediately come to mind in terms of sources of rich themes and message, I'll try to break each one down both in terms of their narrative and how they could be presented online and their aesthetics and how iconic imagery can be used to further nail down the message. I may even attempt to realise some earlier draft, concept versions of idea I have for each film so I can be sure of the direction I take when creating the whole piece.

The Flash file below is a concept I developed for a possible "Memento" based interactive animation piece. The idea is taken from the opening scene of the film where a close-up shot of polaroid being shaken for development is seen. I used the Alpha channel reduction ActionScript from work in last years Design & Digital Media module to create the piece. I also added the sound of paper flapping upon each click.

Click main image to test

The above YouTube embed is of the opening scene in Memento. I've tried to simulate the shaking of the polaroid in reverse as the image undevelops and present it in digital media. The interaction of clicking replicates the effect of shaking the image. Obviously if I were to continue developing the idea I could have the whole piece shake upon clicking as well.

The below screenshot is a mock up of a concept I designed for a potential "Se7en" website. The idea is that seven rectangles will all be individually interactive; upon mouse rollover they will loop a specific clip taken from the opening scene of the film.

The above screenshot links to a mockup using the animated GIFs I produced from the Se7en opening sequence. I've stretched them to essentially fill the whole browser screen on most users (in an ideal world I would develop and produce this piece in Flash in HD quality with the clips filling the screens absolutely and resizing in proportion to the browser window). Upon clicking the main GIF the user is redirect to the next, several overall to match each deadly sin represented in the film. Unlike the Requiem for a Dream site I like the idea of filling the screen as much as possible, essentially immersing the user fully into the whole experience. Pathway/Routes for the user to take could be made possible through "hot corners" of such in each GIF e.g. if the user clicks in the bottom right, top left etc a different link path is taken. Cast, crew and all other necessary legal requirements could be fulfilled by floating the text over the GIFs similarly to the opening sequence itself.

I created the animated GIF clips from the Se7en opening sequence by downloading a .MOV file and importing it into iMovie, as seen above. There I was able to trim the clips to the desired length before exporting them as a .M4V file and converting that using an online video > GIF tool, GifNinja.

The opening scene of Martin Scorsese's 1976 film "Taxi Driver" was one of the first to come to mind when deciding a film to use for the project. The iconic sequence ticks all the boxes with the legally-required presentation of the cast and crew members along with iconic imagery and intense score.

Taking the heavy themes presented throughout the film and the imagery video clips in the opening sequence I have attempted to storyboard a draft idea for adapting the film into a non-linear online presented package (possibly Flash based).

The above shots show the same Taxi Driver storyboard I sketched, mock-up in Photoshop. Each frame would use fading transition and clicking certain areas and object in the frame would take a user to a different frame each time creating the non-linear effect.

After developing ideas and concepts for other films I turned in a new direction for the final piece. Creating an online interactive Flash file to promote the 2010 film "The Social Network". Emulating the faux-websites found in the "Requiem for a Dream" website, I've used a faux-login box at the start of the piece, tying in with the Facebook theme. The login details of course require no specific account name and password and the rest can be accessed simply by selecting the LOGIN button.

After entering faux login details and passing the login screen the user is then face with straight-cut, bright white Futura text displaying words from the movie's posters. After each word fades out the user is required to click the blank screen for the next to appear. After 5 single words the tagline appears followed by the logo for the film. All the while in the background is a song from the film's score and a quote strategically positioned toward the end of the piece.