Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Most of the known video games developed by big software companies usually establish an approach to the cinematic language in an attempt to create a perfect combination of narrative, visual technique and interaction. Unlike most video games, interactive film narratives normally involve an interruption in time whenever the spectator has to make choices. “Dialectical Polyptych” is an interactive movie included in a project called “Characters looking for a spectactor”, which aims to give the spectator on-the-fly control over film editing, thus exploiting the role of the spectator as an active subject in the presented narrative. This paper presents a system based on a 3D sensor for tracking the spectator's movements and positions, which allows seamless real-time interactivity with the movie. Different positions of the body prompt a change in the angle or shot within each narrative, and hand swipes allow the spectator to alternate between the two parallel narratives, both producing a complementary narrative.