- Project brief:
Edward Tulane VR is an interactive film adapted from The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a novel by Kate DiCamillo. The story is about an adventurous yet forlorn journey of a porcelain rabbit, Edward, who finds his long-lost owner, Abilene.
He fell into the sea while children were fighting for toys. Then he began his journey. He was picked up by various people and left by the owner for various reasons. He’s been thinking about what is love all along the way. On his last trip, his owner, a young boy, could not afford the high cost of repairing his broken head and mortgaged him to a second-hand toy shop. In the toy store, he feels that he can no longer love and is at peace with it. But the old toy beside it told him that he must believe in love. At the end of the story, its first owner, accidentally found it in a second-hand toy store and brought it home.
This is a children’s story, which revolves around the theme of love.
We adapted this story into an interactive VR game. Take a third look at what happened to the rabbit. It begins with a scene of rabbits in a second-hand toy store. Using the dialogue between the old toy and it, which begins to enter the rabbit’s memory, is a way of telling the story in a flashback. At the end of the game, a mother and daughter came to a toy store, and the mother said, “Isn’t this the rabbit I lost when I was a child?” Give the audience a more open ending.
- division of work
I am responsible for 3D scenes and 3D character modelling and rigging. After the model is approved, I will be responsible for the game animation. If we have time, we do cutscenes. This is the icing on the cake.
- inspiration: Make a discovery game and pick interesting stories from books.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: https://www.zhihu.com/tardis/sogou/art/52032166
- Character:
china rabbit: Edward Tulane
The girl: Abilene
- Story synopsis:
A proud toy, unfortunately, was abandoned on the ship in an accident. He had met different people, various things to explore what is love on the way home.
- The original text describes its shape:
A porcelain rabbit is made almost entirely of porcelain material. He had China arms, China legs, China PAWS and a China head, a China trunk and a China nose. His arms and legs were joined by wire so that his porcelain elbows and knees could be bent, allowing him to move freely.
His ears were made of real rabbit hair, and under the fur were strong, flexible wires that made them pose to reflect the mood of the rabbit — relaxed, tired, or bored. His tail, too, was made of real rabbit hair, one fluffy, one soft, and properly done.
He is tall. It’s almost three feet from the tip of his ear to the tip of his foot. His eyes were painted blue to make them sharp and witty.
He was taken aback at first. He was a toy rabbit after all, and he didn’t want to be dressed up as a girl. The outfits, even those worn on special occasions, were so simple and plain.
- Some wonderful lines in the book
But answer me this question: if there is no love, how can a story have a happy ending?
“Ah, yes.” “Said the young man. In fact, Edward Tulane was so happy to be back in life that he would not have been offended if people had called him “it.”
Edward knew what it was like to say the names of the people you’d left behind over and over again. He knew what it was like to miss someone. So he listened. And when he listens, his heart opens up. The more he opens, the wider he opens.
How many times, Edward wondered, had he said goodbye without a chance to say goodbye?
You’re all alone down there, and the stars seem to be talking to him. We’re up there with our stars. I’ve been loved, too, Edward told them.
Edward had never been nursed like a baby in his life. Abilene didn’t do that. Neither did Nellie. And neither did Buell. To be held so gently and madly, to be looked down on so lovingly, gave him a strange feeling. Edward felt the blood boil in his porcelain body.
Edward is the only one who thinks otherwise. He did not wish to be bought and did not let his heart thrill with it. He was proud of it. He prided himself on keeping his mind calm and his heart closed.
“But that’s terrible,” said the old boy. “There’s no point in living — nothing at all — if you think that. You have to be hopeful. You have to be hopeful. You must know who is going to love you and who you are going to love next.”
“Open your heart,” she said softly. “Someone will come. Someone will pick you up. But first, you must open your heart.”
Edward Tulane waited. The seasons’ change, year after year.
- INTERACTION REFERENCE
What Remains of Edith Finch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9B15cptgq0
A Juggler’s Tale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 9DYnUzwqhZU
Puppet Fever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= iHPvR0TbyIQ
This part depends on another cooperator because the students who learn in game design have more deep thinking about it.
- Character Design
The group members found a picture in ArtStation, and we all felt it was appropriate for the rabbit in the story. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/AqWGR5
That’s still to be undetermined: