At the Apple Store Soho on Friday, (from left to right) Forest Grove creator Maya Churi, designer Michelle Perreault, and animator/composer Jason Snell, in a discussion moderated by indieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez.
As Maya Churi explained, the online project, "was inspired by the winding roads and cul-de-sacs that scatter the American landscape. The bright blue swimming pools that dot the suburban communities are a pool hoppers dream. From the air one can see a clear path from one pool to the next, the image got me thinking about John Cheever’s short story “The Swimmer” which was made into a film with Burt Lancaster. Those visuals, along with the Cheever story and a visit to a high security gated community were the inspiration for the project."
In the web-based narrative project, shot by cinematographer Jim Denault ("Maria Full of Grace"), a young boy swims across the pools of the gated community called Forest Grove. The group created the project using architectural models, small carved people, Flash animation and photography to create the Forest Grove community and tell the story.
As Maya explained further, "The interactivity of the project was something that
Jason and Michelle and I thought a lot about. This is not a choose your own ending story or even a choose your own path story. This is a linear narrative that is very much about control. Charlie, the protagonist, is searching for control in his life. And he feels like when he's in Forest Grove he has it. Keeping that in mind I wanted and needed the user to feel like there were in control of how and what they were seeing. To do this we created a path for the user to follow by giving them a choice of houses to visit in the first section. In the second section we let the user click on the houses, as if they have a choice, but in fact we are guiding them. By the end the viewer, like Charlie, loses all control and must sit back and watch what happens.""
FILMMAKER Magazine published a story on the project when it screened at the Sundance Online Film Festival back in January.
For more, visit the Forest Grove site.
