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
