In last week’s blog I discussed the story in a fair amount of detail. However, last week most of the team was also involved in a tech exploration of what can be achieved in Unreal Engine. We explored water simulations, particle system based effects for fire, player representation, streams etc. in the quest of understanding how to recreate the art style defined in our preproduction bible. Using this tech exploration as a launching pad we have begun to execute on phase 1 for production which involves building a prototype of the entire experience from back to front.
In addition we also brainstormed five pre-production pitches amongst which one emerged a winner. The concept builds on the thought of a rain dance as a cultural phenomenon. The VR experience set inside a child’s room, wherein the player is depicted as a child surrounded by dolls of many cultures. User interactions will triggers individual sets of toys performing their own respective rain dance telling one part of a single story. In the final phase, all the toys dance together finally merging into a beautiful rain dancing spirit who dances the entire story from back to front representing the unity of cultures. Overall the piece is intended to be revolve around toy based animations, heavily driven by music and delivering a powerful message of cultural unity.