Subtitles in 3D Spaces
In order to help the user to navigate and understand the language, I looked into putting subtitles into the VR scene. In the end I couldn’t find a way of placing them in VR but instead in a 360 video.
Another reference I found (as seen above) helped me visualise how the subtitles could look in a gaming format. This immersive storytelling technique in VR inspired me to experiment with using an immersive panoramic scene with audio. Below you can find 360 bubbles I experimented with on Mozilla hubs and a short video of the experience.
The main issue I faced while using Mozilla Hubs was keeping the polygon count below 50,000 triangles. I found by using photos I was able to cut down the numbers instead of inserting individual 3D objects.
Script Changes | Storyline, Structure and Translation into Palermitano
After having feedback from my lecturer, we discussed how the two storylines within the sketch wasn’t as clear as it could have been so I changed it in order to make the customer experience clearer. The narrative changed so that there are two rival families, one rich (the Gambinos) and one poor (the Carusos). They have a miss-understanding where both families believe the other had stolen their secreto tomato sauce recipe. As a result they fight and then realise the grandmas took the recipes in the end in order to bring the two families together.
After this session I had further feedback which is recorded in my WIP 1 post. I wanted to create a prototype with audio samples, look at youtube video with subtitles and audio and to look into script writing.
Re-writing the Script and Character Framing
Before re-writing the script, I looked into the different appearances and layouts of scripts so that I could further develop my own. I changed the alignment of the dialogue text and took out the character roles from the name sections.
References: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/44975409/the-script-comedy-plays
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-write-a-screenplay/
Following this research, I created a story-board (below)to clearly plan out what the storyline of La Ladra della Salsa would include. I wanted to make sure the story was short so that the dialogue could be adaptable around it. Considering Palermitan people speak in much longer sentences, I needed to make sure the main storyline was simple so the audience wouldn’t be too overwhelmed with the immersive experience.
After this I looked into how the exposition, climax and resolution would look within the story. Having a look at references such as Geri’s Game and Partly Cloudy by Pixar, I was able to consider how the structure would be laid out for the project. To the left you can see the plot chart I created for La ladra della Salsa.
This then helped me to re-write the script and to make the story-line simple and easy to follow for the audience. Following this I re-wrote the script in Italian and then worked with some Palermitan friends of mine on the Palermitan translation.
References:
https://kaitlinbevis.com/2016/01/11/movie-monday-plot-and-lilo-and-stitch/
https://colaciccolablog.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/pixarshortfilmsplotcharts.pdf
Preparations for Sicily
The week before leaving to go to Sicily, I looked into casting the right voice actors for the characters. In order to clearly understand the characters I was envisioning, I made a table to create rough character profiles to follow. The characters with the lighter yellow are spoken roles and the rest are only placed in the scenes.
I wanted to interview Sicilian people while I was out there so the audience could listen to them via a podcast or watch them on YouTube. I made a list of questions (as shown above) to ask them in english and then translated them into Italian. The interview would most likely be held in Italian with english subtitles for the viewer to understand. The questions would be about the language and their relationship with it. I also made a To-Do list with the tasks I wanted to complete while in the country.
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