Press Kit

English and French

Learner Kit

English and French

Development

JAM3

NFB

CMF

Platforms

APP STORE

Based In

TORONTO, CANADA

Release Date

March 2019

East of the Rockies is an interactive narrative AR experience told from the perspective of Yuki, a 17-year-old girl forced from her home and made to live in one of Canada’s Japanese Internment Camps.

The story follows Yuki as she and her family adjust to their new reality inside of the Slocan Internment Camp. They experience good times as well as the bad, as they work to make life inside the camp as normal as possible.

Interaction comes from tapping, swiping, inspecting and zooming in on key elements within each scene. Each interaction activates a piece of scripted narrative. Spoken in first person, each line illuminates a different aspect of life in the camp, as documented in Yuki’s journal.

Our project began with Joy Kogawa – famed author, poet, activist, member of the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia as well as Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun. Joy is also a former internee at one of B.C.’s Japanese Canadian Internment Camps.

Kogawa’s Obasan stands as the most important account of this moment in Canadian history. A powerful and passionate novel, Obasan tells, through the eyes of a child, the moving story of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

At 82-years-old, Kogawa has teamed up with Jam3 to tell a completely original story for an all new medium.

Together with Kogawa we are leveraging new and exciting technology to tell an amazing, substantive story to reach a new generation.

  • Three Act Story detailing Yukiko’s initial internment, forced relocation and eventual move to Toronto.
  • 50 – 80 minute AR Experience.
  • AR recreation of the Slocan Internment Camp and Raymond Alberta.
  • Proximity based mechanic encouraging users to explore every aspect of the camp.
  • Fully animated and fully voiced narrative.

Story by

JOY KOGAWA

Created by

JASON LEGGE

DIRK VAN GINKEL

Executive Creative Director

PABLO VIO

Creative Director

DIRK VAN GINKEL

Production Co-ordinator

ERIN RAY

User Experience Designer

MELISSA HERNANDEZ

Technical Artist

SHAUN LARKIN

Motion Designer

SONIA BASHASH

Rigging Artist

DANILO PINHEIRO

Researcher

AINSLEY DOTY

KAITLIN FINDLAY

Designer

Mike Lamont

Sound Design

Boombox

Script by

WALT WILLIAMS

ANNE CANNUTE

Director

JASON LEGGE

DIRK VAN GINKEL

Executive Producer

MEDIA RIDHA

Producer

JASON LEGGE

Interaction Designer

STEVEN MENGIN

MELISSA HERNANDEZ

ERIN RAY

Lead Designer

STEVEN MENGIN

Concept Artist

AARON CAMPBELL

Storyboard Artist

MELODY TAM

Game Programmer

AMELIE ROSSER

JONATHAN MCKINNEL

FABIO TOSTE

Texture Artist

Andrew Guan