The future of book apps

I went back to work today and sitting waiting for me in my pigeon hole was my copy of Computer Arts.  I didn't have time to look through it as I had enrolments to do, the induction timetable to compile, the Diploma Student Handbook to write (as there are so many changes to the course and the team has changed and I am now the course leader, so I had to do a complete re-hash), I also wrote the Semester A HE module handbooks because my colleague needed to send them to UEL and to the external examiner this week.  Oh and I interviewed two students and started to set up the template for the tracking sheets as the course leader who has just left did not do them at all for last year...  All in all a busy day, as ever - but I did pop in the Computer Arts dvd when I got home because there were some animated shorts showcased on the disc; but also there was a 'design documentary' about studio life at a studio called ustwo.  The company are digital user interface designers, so I thought it would be beneficial to watch the short film.  

ustwo have made a range of nursery rhyme apps, that has got them noticed by the book publishing industry.  As profiled in the Apps blog, the studio hosted (along with the Literary Platform); a roundtable of book publishers in mid July of this year to discuss the opportunities and challenges offered by book apps.  


Stuart Dredge (guardian.co.uk) highlighted the significant themes that emerged from the discussions:

– Book-apps aren't just being made by traditional book publishers: independent app developers are also piling into the space, albeit often working with out-of-copyright content like nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Meanwhile entertainment brands like Disney - who have been involved in the books business before through licensing deals - are now publishing their own book-apps directly.

– Publishers are at an experimental stage with apps: they are trying different formats and content, but in many cases they still have to commission apps with a firm eye on delivering a return on investment.
– There is still a lot of "paranoia and secrecy" around sales figures for book-apps, not least because they're perhaps not doing as well as has been supposed. "Nobody wants to admit it's really not making as much money as we'd like..." ustwo's decision to go public with the fact that its chart-topping Nursery Rhymes with StoryTime was only earning £2,000 a day when it was the Top Grossing Book on the App Store was a welcome break from the secrecy – even if the figure was a bit dispiriting.
-  Three reasons why publishers aren't more involved in apps than they are, according to one attendee: "It's already a risk-based business – we are spending a lot of money on things that quite often fail. Second, margins are very small – publisher profit margins are much smaller than the development industry. Third: culturally books is still a quite old-fashioned industry..."

This highlights to me that although the publishing industry may be classed as an old fashioned industry - I think it is definitely on the brink of spreading its wings and utilising digital narrative in more depth.  This does not mean the end of books... that would be awful, the book is a beautiful thing, my house if full of them - but it does mean that digital hybrids should and will become more mainstream too.  Although we are surrounded by digital interactivity in all aspects of our lives, it seems we are a little slow to incoporate and participate with digital narrative.  This initally may seem strange, but when you ponder on how deeply embedded the written word is within our psyche, it is understandable that it will take longer to move away from it.  I am a believer that there is room for all and we should have no need to discard the book, but we can already see that less youngsters are inclined to read a book - even in education the younger generation often learn more effectively from interactive/digital environments - this will seep into their adult lives and they will demand more interactive and simple visual entertainment in their lives.  


On the subject of the 'dispiriting' revenue of £2,000 a day for the nursery rhyme apps - I think this would be a pretty good amount for an individual or smaller studio, so it really would depend on the recipients circumstance - for some this would be an excellent revenue.

ustwo are currently working on a new app called Whale Trail.  Within the short film on the Computer Arts disc, they discuss how they are making Whale Trail simple and easy to use and incorporating one touch game play.  Their aim is to make it non taxing, simplistic and something the user can dip in and out of, just for fun.
 

Screenshot of the character development for Whale Trail

I was really pleased to hear that this innovative studio are going down this route as this was exactly the market I am aiming at - simple, easy to use, to interact with for the fun of it - not complex or taxing.  I was wondering if I was taking the right route at one point and I experimented with a range of scripts to try to make more complex interactivity within my 'visual journey', but, as I got tangled up in trying to make the script work and it began eating into my time; I stepped back and took myself back to my original plan to keep things simple and of course you have doubts as to whether you are doing the right thing - but this has given me more confidence in sticking to the simplicity!

Progress with 'The Door'

Although I am constantly working on the project now, progress seems to me to be slow in comparison to time allocated!  I've hit a few problems (as you do), one of them being with the static tv movie that I have embedded into the link screen from the intro.  The static sound level is way too high - so I took the sound from the movie clip with an online file converter so that I can take the sound levels down, and then re-embedded the movie into Flash and deselected the audio, which would usually be enough to take the sound away, but it didn't take it off.... I then took it into Premiere and deselected the sound track completely and then exported it without sound again and couldn't quite believe that when I put it into Flash, the loud static sound was still on there!!  Really bizarre.  I have re-saved it each time as an FLV, so I can only think it has something to do with that, so the last thing I can do is try is to export it as a QuickTime movie from Premiere and convert it back to an FLV within Adobe's Media Encoder and hope that will strip it out once and for all.

I made some adjustments to the link pages from the intro.  Originally I was going straight from the window shot at the end of the intro to the poem page - but somehow it looked disjointed, so on reflection I did a close up shot of the ipod with the static movie playing on the screen and zoomed right in and then zoomed out from that into the poem page with the static movie playing within that.  This seemed to work more effectively.   I have got some feedback from some users within my target audience age range and it was well received, particularly with the 20 - 30 age range.  There was mixed feelings regarding the issue of whether to tell the story, or just hint at it with the intro.  One user (22), said that they were intrigued enough by the intro to want to venture further, but that they did not understand the story from it.  I have currently deliberately not told the story (even though there is a background story and character profiling), this is to make it a little more mysterious; but I would need to get more feedback in order to know if this is the right way forward.

the link shot

I completed the next section that is really an interface to link to the main menu, but which includes a visual and auditory rendition of the poem. Below are some of the images that I worked on that are used within the poem animation.

colouring some of the 'magic city' elements

Close up of one of the trees within the
'magic city' aspect of the poem animation

Screenshot of of a scene from the poem animation

I wanted to make the visual aspect of the poem quite vibrant as the poem is about encouraging someone to open the door - and all the wonderful things that could be behind the door.  It lists the things that the person could see, if only they would open the door.... this is linked to the solitary soul of Kara, who cannot open the door as she is trapped in a monotonous world within a time warp.  She looks out onto a gloomy world that cannot see her.  I hope the user will want to go on this visual journey in order to set her free and open the door so that she can enter the real world once again.

Next step is back to the interactivity - so much to do, must crack on!

Gettin On by Suzanne Deakin

Gettin On - Pilot from Slinky Pictures on Vimeo.

Would love to see this as a series - we need to have more adult themed animation on mainstream tv.  The illustration is great and is based upon original character sketches by Punk cartoonist and illustrator, the late Ray Lowry.

The animated intro... so far

The black intro at the beginning will have intro text on it and also the sound will not end as abruptly as it currently does.  I have used limited animation and there are tweaks that I would like to sort out, but feel that I need to get on with the content rather sharpishly now, so will come back to this if there is time.

The intro and interactivity...

I have been working on the intro and have uploaded a test to YouTube, so that I can post it on here.  I have used limited animation and it needs tweaking, but I need to get on with the content now, so I have started working on a slide in screen that incorporates the poem about the Door and will lead into the first menu page for the interactive journey.  I find it difficult to put a name to what I am working on, because if I call it an interactive narrative, the content would surely need more of a story within its content - but the story is about a young girl trapped in a time warp and the user navigates through a journey that they ultimately create themselves, by selecting from the array of different routes to get to the final door to set the girl free.  It could be called an interactive visual journey, but that is too long a title.  There are so many titles you could give it... digital narrative, interactive puzzle, visual narrative, digital storytelling.....

According the Digital Story Centre (www.storycenter.org), the meaning of digital storytelling is: 

digital story (dig·i·tal sto·ry)
A short, first person video-narrative created by combining recorded voice, still and moving images, and music or other sounds.

The Digital Story Centre has a commitment to portraying and sharing individual, meaningful stories from youths and adults from around the world, using digital media and depicts that a digital story is based upon an individuals interpretation of a video narrative.

Wikipedia suggests that digital storytelling is the use of digital tools to allow ordinary people tell their own real-life stories.  

Another website based on digital storytelling: http://electronicportfolios.com/digistory  has this quote from Leslie Rule to describe digital storytelling:

Digital Storytelling is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights. Tell your story now digitally.
- Leslie Rule, Digital Storytelling Association

I have found from researching interactive narratives and digital storytelling that there does not yet seem to be a definitive name for the array of categories for digital narratives and there is also a conflict regarding the fact that interacting with a story can interfere with the authors version of the story and also whether the public actually want to interact with stories or film.  Carolyn Handler Millers book: Digital Storytelling: A creator's guide to interactive entertainment has a more positive spin on the topic and discusses a broad range of media and topics.  Hal Barwood is quoted as saying this about interactivity and Millers' book:  

'Interactivity has opened up a new world of storytelling. The territory is promising - and dangerous. We've just started to explore and this book is one of the first good roadmaps.' 

I agree with Barwood that interactive storytelling is in it's infancy and has some way to go to settle down into the everyday psyche of people. I do not feel that it is in any way a replacement for the written word, but it should eventually sit comfortably beside it as a visual and interactive alternative that will be the norm, rather than as an adversary.

In contrast I do not quite agree with Andrew Glassner's comments, (from his book: Interactive Storytelling, Techniques for the 21st Century Fiction), regarding 'nonlinear stories'.  He states that:

'Despite a tremendous amount of effort and money, neither branching nor hypertext has found much enduring success in the commercial arena.  There are several books devoted to building academic theories of narratives in each of these approaches, which look forward to a future when the technique has matured [Jay David Bolter.  Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print, 2nd Edition. Mahwah, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001] and [George P Landow. Hypertext 2.0: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology, 2nd Edition.  Baltimore, MD:Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997].  That future has not yet come to pass, and I think it's not likely to.'

This may well be the case for hypertext narratives, but I think that branching narratives has a future and I think that it will come to pass; particularly visual branching narratives.  The 21st Century is extremely visual and full of interactivity, and consequently, visual, interactive narratives certainly have a place.  My viewpoint is that if the user has the story set up for them and a goal to achieve that will bring the story to an end; ultimately, the middle can be a multitude of visual journeys that they can encounter which lets them make up the story that takes them to the finale.  This will be particularly pleasurable if it has branching narratives that they can stumble upon to enrich the journey.

Holiday

I went away to Cornwall last week - but took the laptop with me in order to do some work while I was there - apart from the days that I drove to get there and back. It was 5 hours to get there and 7 and a half to get back due to problems on the M5.

Here are some pics to show where I was working - all very different to the environment at home.  Great view out of the window!

I re-drew Kara in Illustrator and she looked better than the quick sketches that I created in Flash (shown in the previous entry). I worked on making her look wistful and pensive. I finally decided on the art direction and chose to use a limited colour palette for the intro scenes.  Her skin is grey to symbolise the limbo land that she is trapped in and to portray that she feels soulless.  

As previously mentioned in a past entry, I have been inspired by some of Hans Bacher's pre-production sketches where he uses tones of one colour to great effect.  I will use this style for the intro scenes and then use a range of styles within the interactive scenes to hopefully keep the interest of the user - as they enter a different portal, the styles will change.  Nina Paley incorporates a range of styles effectively within her animation: Sita sings the blues (2007).

Nina worked on this for 3 years and is happy for people to copy, share and distribute the film, although it has caused some controversy in India regarding the topic of the ancient Hindu epic, the Ramayana.

Back to the topic of Kara - here is the updated digital sketch.

Kara drawn in Illustrator

Upon returning, I have created the Cat-Bot - Baz.  The name derives from an Egyptian God of home protection, who protected women and children above all others.  You can see from my entry dated 11th August, that some of the 'cat' sketches were becoming very Egyptian - I tamed this down for the final character drawings and just hinted at the Egyptian link.

I found it more beneficial to draw Baz in Flash due to probems that I had with working with the illustrator drawing of Kara within Flash.  Every line that I drew within Illustrator was grouped and when I needed to break the groups apart, they broke up and made it a nightmare to try to do even the most simplest of eye blinks!  I worked until the early hours one morning trying to sort it out - an absolute waste of my time (which is so precious right now as the deadline looms).  My foray into Illustrator is not over, but I have found that by using the pencil tool in Flash, I can get the same result and I am able to seperate the character body parts much more effectively..... why have I used the Painbrush tool in Flash for so long and not the Pencil!!

Here is Baz - drawn in Flash

As you can see, the effect is similar to the Illustrator drawing, but far easier to work with!

development sketches of Kara

Here are some development sketches of Kara, from pen sketch to digital.

The look I was aiming for is captured better in the sketch on the left.  I wanted the first shot to encapsulate a look of sadness and weariness, but with a small hint of defiance.  The sketch on the right looks too defiant.

I then went into Flash to digitise the sketches.  Wasn't over enamoured with either of the drawings and so I then scanned in the original sketch above and am going to try to draw over this in Illustrator to see if it is an improvement over the Flash drawings.

I will see how the Illustrator drawings look and then decide on what software to use to draw the characters in.  I'm currently thinking of keeping the characters within the main scene black and white, with just one accent colour.