I am putting my Little Red Riding Hood on the back burner while I develop more game engine skills and general experience. I think the budget necessary to do a good job is out of reach. So, I am going to try to do another project that I've been working on. I'm calling it 3dRail, after a combo of the 3rd rail of the subway and the 3D environment I'd like to create.
I went to a Unreal Engine 4 workshop for VR and it helped solidify this as a better project idea. I would like to have the participant/viewer teleport through a street scene environment, then into a subway car and be transported to a speakeasy style gallery (maybe through a password that is on Facebook or Twitter that can change). Then, it will feature installations from artists (I have one "in the bag" from a 360 I did with a street artist) and link up a portal that could go to the artist's VR Instagram gallery.
I met up with another filmmaker who has made short films with artists who I introduced to VR. I can see this project expanding to feature portals to other filmmaker's work about artists, artist portals, and different themes--not always street art, but in this "proof of concept" that I'm trying to do, it will be street art themed.
I'm really interested in portals and mazes (which was a backbone of my Little Red Riding Hood idea) and I can see building this out to be a virtual labyrinth of art with different vibes in different areas. The Janus VR metaverse sites are really exciting, and I've fallen in love with Tilt Brush (looking forward to Kingsprayer). So, I will try to create a fun environment for art exploration, art sharing, and with a mind to events in real world that can also be represented in the metaverse--VR art jamming, anyone?
I think the combination of street art and VR is a great. Street art is really about presence and context... you can certainly appreciate it through pictures but it's a whole other thing to be standing in a real space looking at it. And it seems like VR should be able to approximate that feeling.
Since my last post, I've been working on the development plan for my Street Art Speakeasy. I have done Omer's exercise from Launch Pad bootcamp several times, and it is helpful. I've also been following a couple of general game development preproduction references to plan out my project-this is one that has helped me organize my thoughts: http://www.austincc.edu/sfarr/online/game-1303/GAME1303_Week11_Principles_of_Game_Design_3.pdf
I have been learning Unreal Engine 4 (I started just before I found out we were using Unity, and decided to keep going with UE4). I've been playing around with a layout based on my pencil sketch, and now I'm struggling a bit with getting the phone, Visual Studio, and Unreal to cooperate. A series of updates have made for some glitches, but I think I've got it worked out. I'll know later today. Fingers crossed.
In other news, I've been developing a documentary about film producer Debra Hill for the last few years, but I've been unhappy with the standard bio doc format as a way to convey the scope of her achievements, the impact she's had on the careers of so many Hollywood filmmakers, and the way that her absence (due to her untimely death from cancer in 2005) has probably changed the film industry (cough cough...dismal representations of women in front of/behind the camera). Losing this one woman (who knew how to kick ass, make movies-genre movies!, and help others) is more than a butterfly effect, it was a devastating loss that has contributed to the near extinction of women in high places in Hollywood (just when inroads were being made) and a return to the belief that women & genre films don't mix. Anyway...I've decided to harness the power of the "empathy machine" and create a VR documentary series about Debra Hill. Her interactions with her colleagues (Lynda Obst, John Carpenter, many more), mentees (Gale Anne Hurd, Stacey Sher, many more), and fans have enduring effects that are as vital today as when she was alive. My hope is that this VR series will capture that essence and propel it forward to inspire people to help nurture opportunities for one another-just like this Launch Pad is doing. It's a great spirit that everyone I've met in VR has, but unfortunately has become rare in the film world. Debra Hill was an exceptional film producer, and human being.
To this end, I've been negotiating with the Egyptian Theater to film the double feature presentation of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK & ESCAPE FROM LA (20th anniversary celebration) on July 8th at 7:30. Fellow Launch Pad-er Tanya Soto has offered up much needed help and support - I hope she is available with her camera!!!! It should be a fun event, and I'd love to get some atmospheric 360 footage of the fans.
Ok, back to hoping Samsung phone, Visual Studio, and Unreal become friends!