FOUAD HAFIZ

An interactive film in which the user is able to watch three interlocking stories in nine segments and ultimately choose the fate of the protagonist.

Dante is a man at war with himself. He suddenly finds himself in a strange, vaguely recognizable place where he must, through the benevolent guidance of a diligent Bellhop, reassess his past actions and find out what is happening to him. There are nine floors to choose from. But will he be able to make the right choice when the moment of truth arrives?

Assigned with the task of telling a story revolving around judgement, redemption and purgatorial anxiety, we decided to push the envelope by creating a tale with heavy religious symbolism and moral undertones. Coming strong off of the success of LAST MINUTES, and now rechristened Team Cat Static, we wanted to challenge our live-action and video-post-processing abilities by making the project inherently effects-heavy. We were also thinking a lot about having the structure of the project serve the content in a meaningful way. The road would be long and hard and we were just crazy enough to embark on it.

We settled on an elevator as our interactive plot-device. Each of nine floors would represent a different element of Dante’s past – giving the user new information about the character. The nine floors were a metaphor for the nine levels of hell in the writings of Dante Alighieri. As the user runs out of buttons to push, one impending, final choice approaches. Is Dante damned or is he forgiven?

Finishing LAST RITES was a herculean effort. We had a mere 5 weeks to complete it and none of us in the team had ever attempted a project of this magnitude. Having the most 3D and post-production experience, once again I took on the role of Project Lead, but even I couldn’t have predicted the sheer logistical obstacles we would encounter. I quickly established a basic pipeline for camera-tracking green-screen footage and inserting 3D backgrounds into shots, but as the production progressed we eventually decided to keep moving-camera green-screen shots to a minimum, since tracking the footage was a step I would be too busy to perform, and it would have made rendering and compositing the virtual backgrounds that much harder. Also, since I was too busy acting in the lead role (a decision I would have avoided were it not absolutely necessary) and keeping track of the whole enterprise, I would not be able to attend personally to modelling/rendering. Although new to the process herself, Natalia created a 3D elevator we were satisfied with, and we were able to obtain serviceable still-frame backgrounds upon which to composite our footage.

It was clear to me from the get-go that we would have to deftly balance time against quality. Given the constraints we were operating under, it was imperative that we suppress any perfectionist impulses and start churning out composited shots which could be edited together to create the final scenes. Possibly the most crucial lesson I learned was the importance of having a strict system for organizing data. Our team had grown from six to eight people now, and the accumulation of raw data on our network was exponential (the Cat Static folder was 1.4TB at wrap-up). Much to the chagrin of myself and Jason, the TD, it was also quite haphazard, and tracking all the various files was a considerable headache. Leaving too little time for playtesting was another problem we ended up facing. Having been constantly neck-deep in production, we had little opportunity to step back and critique the project as a whole until the last second. The journey was exhausting and frustrating but also exhilerating and illuminating. Ultimately, I’m pleased to report that everyone gave it their all and I believe the final product speaks for itself.

C R E D I T S

CREW:
(in alphabetical order)

Lead Compositor, Cinematographer, Editor	CONRAD CHAN
Manager, Technical Director	JASON CHANG
Project Lead	FOUAD HAFIZ
Writer, Compositor, Editor	LUKE JOHNSON
Writer, Director	LIAM KELLY
3D Modeller, Compositor, Editor	JOSHUA KHO
3D Modeller, Production Assistant	NATALIA MITROFANOVA
Editor, Sound Recordist, Fight Choreographer, Equipment Specialist	SHAO YIN YUNG

ACTORS:
FOUAD HAFIZ – Dante
JOSHUA KHO – The Bellhop
LIAM KELLY – Virgil
CONRAD CHAN – Drowning victim
LUKE JOHNSON – Knife attack victim, voice on phone
SHAO YIN YUNG – Overdose victim
JASON CHANG – Burn victim
NATALIA MITROFANOVA – Voice of secretary

SPECIAL THANKS:
GEORGE JOHNSON
SETH MARINELLO

MUSIC:
NINE INCH NAILS – GHOSTS I-IV

The BLOOPER REEL
Linear Run-Through