"The Crime": trying out interactive fiction
Old news are in this page!



"The Crime" is the working title of an interactive fiction video under production by postgraduate students of Advertising and Cinema in PUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Is starts with a simple premise: a man breaks into a house and murders a woman and runs away (You Agatha Christie readers out there, don't yawn yet! :-). But is it so simple?

Exploring interaction possibilities, the plot twists in many directions, some ones quite diverse from what was originally expected.

The project is currently under development, and the portuguese version of the page features near daily updates. They will show up in this international page less often, but be sure to come back once in a while.

This page has only "old news". Click here for "new news"!


01/07 : June 30's pictures!

"The Crime" now enters its postproduction stage. During our last shooting afternoon, not less than four endings were taped. The love scene, the Papparazzi attack, The burial and the bloody meal.

Be sure to come here during our editing days (and nights!) to see "The Crime" taking shape!


30/06 : It's over!

The Crime's shooting was concluded this afternoon. Tomorrow there'll be more news, after the party is over! ;-)


25/06 : One more day!

It is now confirmed: June 30, Tuesday, is our last shooting day. It is not that "The Crime" has gone out of schedule, only the availability of essential pieces (such as camera, actors and location) has forced a spaced shooting calendar. From then on, we'll start postproduction, with the project's distribution following soon after.


25/06: The latest pictures

Cláudia (Larissa Maciel) and Luís (André Mubarack) did have a full day this monday. House invasion, blood and many retakes. To actors, this is daily business!


19/06: June 18's pictures

Love and murder. You can have it all when developing an interactive script. Luís (André Mubarack) and Cláudia (Larissa Maciel) had a "bloody good time" during our work. The pictures were taken by Giselle Jacques.

The team takes a break during this weekend, resuming shooting monday 22.


18/06: June 17's picutres

Imagine getting hit by a car. Imagine doing that many times in a row. And in differente ways. That's what we did to André Mubarack, who plays Luís, all afternoon long. Believe it or not, he got a kick out of that!

We shot next with Larissa Maciel, our Cláudia. The scenes when she is observed from outside in by Luís.


17/06: Car hits man + June 16's pics

June 16's scenes were most indoors. A rainy day kept us from going outside. The scenes appear on the plot's beginning and a little moment before Luis attacks Cláudia.

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June 17 was a sunny day, so we went after the outdoor scenes. Luis breaking into Cláudia's house, getting hit by a car and everything inbetween.

Check out June 17's pictures tomorrow on this page!


16/06: Shooting starts now!

"The Crime" 's taping has started this morning. These are some shots from the studio scenes with Larissa and André, our new actors.

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09/06: Location issues force plan change

"The Crime" 's taping was postponed to June 16 due to an unexpected necessity to change the set's location. The problem, however, is already solved and we expect your visits to this page during the next days.


01/06: Countdown!

It is now confirmed: our shooting will begin June 8 with no further delays (unless an asteroid hits Earth or worse!). Be sure to check this page daily from June 8 to June 10 to see the set pictures.

Meetings with the actors have generated some interesting insights on our character's past lives, before the actions shown on the script. Sorry, folks. It is written in portuguese!

Another essay talks about the relationship between "Crime" and videogames.


22/05 : Our mug shots!

Can you figure out what are the "Crime"'s crew faces? Well, you can now check it out in our team pictures page. But don't worry! It is a speedy download!


19/05 : Latest news

Since our last english update our preproduction efforts have been going strong. There is a new storyboard ready, based on the third screenplay treatment and on an actual location research.

New storyboard pages available: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.


There will be still photos available daily during shooting. The photographer is Giselle Jacques.


Two essays have been written, regarding research aspects of "The Crime". Both are available only in portuguese, but there is an english abstract available for both "Short Tales Once and Now" and "Where Alan Kay and D.W. Griffith Meet".


10/05 : The story so far!

It all started with a simple premise: What if we could interfere with a plot's development during its playback?

The next question was: What kind of interference would you like to make? Dialogue with characters? Swap lights or camera positions? Kill the characters you don't like (or give them more space in the plot?). There are as many possibilities of interaction as dreams in one's mind.

Another goal set from the first step was: make the interaction happen without breaking the "suspension of disbelief". To reach that, once started, the plot never stops and asks "you want to take path A or B?". The interaction opportunities are embedded in the story development, and if you don't choose one path, if automatically branches to another possibility.

After "pruning" the many possible paths (keeping them in a viable fashion for a student project!), the story development began. We have had so far two treatments, both in portuguese. The first is here, the second is hidden behind this link :-).

Now we are in preproduction stage, contacting actors, finding places and deciding photography and technical issues regarding the postproduction. Some storyboards are ready. Altough crudely drawn, they show what's going on.

 

Shooting is expected to begin in the end of May, and take a full week. Be sure to check news, pictures and more information as this project grows.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome! Please email Roberto Tietzmann at rtietz@zaz.com.br.




Developed by Roberto Tietzmann (rtietz@zaz.com.br) 1