Concept
My interactive visual novel will be based on a fairy tale. A fairy tale is defined as a short story from the folklore genre that typically includes character or characteristics that are completely fiction. They typically include magic, talking animals or another unrealistic element that would appeal to small children. Whilst fairy tales are generally aimed towards a younger audience they can come from a dark story that has been more suitably adapted for modern day children’s stories. The visual novel that I will be creating is based on the popular fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.
My project is an adaptation of the Little Red Riding Hood. A fairytale in which a small young girl that wears a very distinct red hood takes some medicine for her ill Grandma to her house. However when she gets there, there is a wolf that has eaten her Grandma and dressed up as her to try and fool the young girl. When the little girl realises who the wolf is she screams and a lumberjack rushes in and cuts open the Wolf and her Grandma falls out intact.
The main way I have reimagined this fairytale is through the perspective that the reader will view the story from. In my reimagined version the viewer will read from the Wolf’s point of view and interact with the story through the original bad character. This will create a scarier atmosphere and build tension as the viewer reads and chooses whether to be on the side of the typical hero or tap into their evil side and become the villain. Another way in which this classic story has been adapted by myself is through the use of time period. The original story is set in a simpler time when her Grandma lived in a cottage in the woods and had no access to modern day technology. Although this is speculated according to National Geographic journalist R.Hartington(2013) “It’s been suggested that the tale was an invention of Charles Perrault, who wrote it down in the 17th century.” My Story will be set in a modern day city including all of the technology that a young girl would now possess. Although the chronological order of the story has mainly stayed the same in my adaptation, a lot of changes have been made to adapt to our now modern culture. All characters will have access to a smart phone and can interact with it through the use of map applications, taxi applications and even video calls.
I have decided to add in this technology to create a plot twist that would help both characters. Little Red no longer has to walk to her Grandmothers, she can order fast food through her phone and even video call her Grandma to make sure she is okay. This may seem like it only helps the hero of the story but the main character in this version is the wolf and these same applications also help out him. He no longer has to try to hide to disguise himself with video calls as he can use dim lighting to disguise himself. He can find a quicker route to her grandmas through his map application and he can know exactly what time Little Red Riding Hood would arrive. Two other large adaptations that I have created are the names of various aspects. Little Red Riding Hood is now Lil Red Rapping Hood, the LumberJack is now a Fast Food Delivery Driver and the name of the fairy tale is now Lil Red Rapping Food. The title now plays to the fact that the main character is now the wolf in search of a snack.
R.Hartington(2013) What Wide Origins You Have, Little Red Riding Hood. Available Online: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131129-little-red-riding-hood-folktale-tehrani-anthropology-science/ [Accessed 1/12/2020].
Similar Products and Genre
My project is a visual novel with elements of gamification, using aspects of the gothic/horror genre. The first product that inspired this style, that I will be implementing in my project, is the story based games made known as Telltale games. The most popular Telltale game is The Walking Dead. This game is gamification of the original Walking Dead comics. However it changes depending on how the user decides to play. The player is given frequent choices that can change the full story. Below is a video that shows this by comparing two different choices given in the game and how the outcome changes the narrative. Each of these variables has a different effect on the world. The game is also in a style similar to mine because parts of the game are released in volumes as if they are part of a physical comic book when in fact they are an interactive story. Although the genre maybe similar to my project, as an interactive story, it is also very different. This is due to the way in which the screen and gameplay is laid out. For example I plan to use a static image for the background on most of my interactive pages, with some animation during cutscenes. I also intend to have all of the dialogue listen on the screen so that the reader is actually reading the story creating their own voices and perspectives of the character as they would do when reading a physical book such as a fairy tale.
The Genre that my style best suits is very similar to the labels most commonly associated with the director Tim Burton. Although the actual animation will be a lot different in comparison to some of his most famous work, the actual genre and the adjectives associated with it are the same that I want to reproduce in my piece of work. Arguably one of his best known films is The Nightmare Before Christmas and whilst these figures look like 3d playdough models it is the genre I would like to incorporate. The director creates a film with a horror-like feel but can construct it in such a way that means it can be viewed by children and make them scared without having nightmares for a few weeks. This is the same style that I would like to incorporate into my wolf character. He should be scary but not so scary that parents will invoice me for their child’s therapy sessions.
One other similar product that inspired me was a game that uses the same visual style and techniques that I would like to employ in my creation. The game that I am referring to is Pokémon. Although most aspects of this game have almost nothing to do with how I would like to create my story, the layout is very similar to the one I intend to use. This is because of the style I referenced to earlier, it has a static background, there are very small animations and the text is read out loud by the reader.
References
BabyZone(2018) Save Shawn vs Save Duck -All Choices- The Walking Dead [Video]. Available Online:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1gHgNgH80&ab_channel=BabyZone [Accessed 4/12/2020].
Disney(2020) The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) [Photograph]. Available Online: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/mediaviewer/rm3131662080/ [Accessed 4/12/2020].
Nintendo(2007) DP Manual Cover [Photograph]. Available Online: https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/gameslist/manuals/DS_Pokemon_Diamond.pdf [Accessed 4/12/2020].
Narrative Design
I have designed my interactive novel in a way that gives the reader the illusion that they have control of the story. Whilst they do have control, it is not as much as the story might have them think. Their actions will affect the story but due to the gamification in my project I have also made it so certain actions will kill them and they will have to rethink and make decisions with better judgement to see them through to the end of the story. The overall storyline has a chronological order that follows a similar story to the original fairy tale. However the challenges affect the how long it will take them to get to a certain aspect of the story. This is done through my use of different variables.
I have used a Narrator to give the reader the false impression that no matter what options they choose they can carry on in the story and everything will be fine. However due the use of variables there are different endings to the story and different paths they can take, this is not the case. My three variables are:
- Time
- Suspicion
- Keys
These three variables will work in this way, Time will run through a clock on the Wolf’s phone they must ensure that they get to Grandma’s apartment before a certain time because that is when Lil Red will show up. The suspicion is another variable that will be displayed in a bar for Lil Red’s suspicion level, the user must ensure to keep the suspicion level below 100% in order for Lil Red to not suspect anything and not go to her Grandmas. The third variable is Keys, there will be a scene in which the user has to find a key for Grandma’s apartment and if they cannot find it they will either run out of time or cause the suspicion levels to rise by banging on the door.
If statements and Booleans are the two types of variables that allow my variables to work. The if statements will be very useful when incorporating my time variable. The time at the start of the story is 11am and the user is told at the start they have an hour until Lil Red makes it to Grandma’s apartment. This therefore gives a sense of a time countdown as they have 60 minutes to make it. The time will go down based on how long they take with separate decisions. The If statement will periodically check if the time countdown from 60 has hit 0. It would look something like If time = 0 run something that would send the player back or end the game. The same is also true in the way it can be applied for my other variable suspicion. This variable is Lil Red’s suspicion bar, it will be displayed at the top of the screen and be measured in percentages. By reaching 100% suspicion on the bar the player will either have to start again or possibly make a different decision. This would look very similar to the previous if statement as it would look something like if suspicion is 100% run send player back else let them carry on. Else statements are paired with if statements to say if something happens do this but if something else has happened then do this. In this case they can be used to let the player carry on with the game.
Graphic Design and Animations
My visual style throughout this project will consist of 2D assets and characters in a gothic cartoon style. I will design an assortment of assets that are scary but still could be shown to younger audiences or teenagers. Below is a table consisting of all of the major visual assets that I intend to create myself.
| Asset Name | Asset Type | Other Information |
| Wolf | Character | Designed in gothic cartoon style, multiple versions will be designed to allow for use in animation such as separate limbs and different faces consisting of different expressions |
| Lil Red Rapping Hood | Character | Adaptation of classic Red Riding Hood made modern, hood will be a hoodie and instead of a dress, skinny jeans. Needs movable limbs and various expressions for animation patterns |
| Grandma | Character | Adaptation from classic fairy tales made modern day. Grandma will be notably younger and wear a tracksuit and a chain with the letter G. Separate limbs and expressions for Animation purposes |
| Delivery Driver | Character | Typical fast food delivery driver wearing colours associated with popular food delivery services, detachable limbs and various expressions for animation purposes |
| Dark Alleyway | Background Scene | Static Background Scene to be used in start of novel |
| Taxi Interior | Background Scene | Static Background Scene to be used in start of novel |
| City Skyline | Background Scene | Static Background Scene to be used in start of novel and possibly throughout cutscenes |
| Halloween Costume | Clothes for Wolf | Assets to cover Wolf’s body in order to be worn for disguise. Sleeves and trousers must be detachable in order to be able to be animated with the character, |
| Shakespeare Costume | Clothes for Wolf | Assets to cover Wolf’s body in order to be worn for disguise. Sleeves and trousers must be detachable in order to be able to be animated with the character, |
| Street Wear | Clothes for Wolf | Assets to cover Wolf’s body in order to be worn for disguise. Sleeves and trousers must be detachable in order to be able to be animated with the character, |
| Apartment Door Scene | Background Scene | Static background scene for acts 2 and 3. |
| Living Room | Background Scene | Static background scene for acts 2 and 3. |
| Glowing TV | Light source Object | Possible source of light in dimly lit apartment therefore must be made with glowing effect on screen. Possible different versions with different colour screens to give an animated effect when shown one after another in the same scene |
| Smart Phone | Character’s Object | Possession for Lil Red, Wolf and Grandma. Mainly used as a second HUD for wolf character |
| Map app Screen | Designed for Phone | Created both for Lil Red and Wolf, two versions. One displaying a taxi map and other walking routes. |
| Clock | To be displayed on Phone | Clock to countdown with time variable |
| Suspicion Bar | Part of HUD | Variable displayed at top of screen to show Lil Red’s level of suspicion throughout the novel |
| Key | Variable | Must be found outside Apartment door scene so must be made around same brightness as not to make it too easy to find |
Using Sound will also play a very important role in this project as it will help tell the user how they should be feeling. I will gather various royalty free background music that conveys different moods for different scenes. For example, music that conveys hope and victory and then another that conveys suspense and horror.
Animations will be difficult to incorporate due to the software I am using to create this project. I will be using Adobe XD which does not support the use of video file formats. Therefore for smaller animations such as slight movements I can use stop motion animation to portray the effect of movement. I know this method will work on a small scale because I have used it in previous assignments as you can see from the video below. I kept everything from each scene the same but slightly changed what I wanted to appear moving in this case a countdown but it can be used for small character movements or changes to a scene.
For larger more complex animations, I will use Adobe After Effects to create cutscenes and introductions. These will not be directly added to the prototype but they can be edited into the video of the prototype to give the effect that they have been included.
Diagram Level and Script
Due to the size of both of these assets I have provided separate pages for them to be viewed on. They can be accessed via the buttons below.
This is the Key for my Diagram Level each different coloured shape has a specific role to play in my project. They have been appropriately named in order to better explain my level diagram.
I have created this diagram with three separate sections that directly correlate to those on my script. Act One – The Set up, Act Two – Confrontation and Act Three – Resolution. This is due to inspiration from a lecture in which I was taught the importance of dramatic tension and build up. This follows those guidelines as it has a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is a set up for the middle scene as the character makes their journey to the scene of confrontation. Act 2 or the middle, is when the confrontation between the characters occurs. The end, or Act 3 the resolution is when the user decides whether the wolf eats, dies or runs away through their actions.