Erika Katalina Pasztor,
Anita Sárosi & Akos Bálázs, HU
"Story-Generator"
Research, concept development, visualisation:
Erika Katalina Pasztor
Software engineer: Akos Bálázs
Co-designer: Anita Sárosi
Budapest, 23. Mai 2000
The concept of the Story-Generator is based on the supposition that every linear line of events described by time and space can be transformed into a certain 3 dimensional space where time fragments are becoming visible as continuous and simultaneous space. Thus the different parts of the story (movie, personal perception etc.) become the segments of the space that we (the viewer) can entirely see and control. This 3 dimensional observation of a linear and dependent sequence of events opens up the logical connection between simultaneous happenings in different spaces. This method works perfectly for examining and processing complex structures with complicated interconnections between their elements. (In our research we found similar examples in scientific research of social network structures: Strategies for Visualizing Network Structure, Lothar Krempel, Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung).
We started to analyze action movies in this project. The action movie features events in every minute. Usually the story is quite simple, but - as the evolution of the action films shows - it is becoming more and more sophisticated. First we created diagrams (graphs) of the structures of several action movies' stories. In these graphs the players were the nodes and we drew the different types of the connections between the nodes as different paths.
In the second stage of the project we created a special combination of the different type of action movies. We created the program based on this structure and it became the prototype story for the Story Generator.
The program was written on Linux systems, but should be pretty easy to port to other Unix-like systems and even to Windows once the necessary libraries will be ready.
The program uses the free 3D library „Coin“ (which in turn uses OpenGL) for 3D rendering. Currently it needs a Linux system with OpenGL, X11, and Coin installed to run. The models used were made in the freeware modeler/renderer „Blender“, exported as VRML models, which Coin is able to import.
Everything on the screen is calculated real-time, thus the user has absolute freedom to go wherever he decides to go during the course of the movie. However, the events are currently „prerecorded“ meaning there's no variation of the different events, they always happen in the same order and at the same place. An obvious place for improvement would be to make the happenings „independent“ from the program (currently they're pretty much tied to the program unfortunately), allowing the „playback“ of different scenarios/scripts. The ultimate goal would be implementing the „story generator“ part, which would make it possible to generate scripts based on user input (e.g. number and sex of enemies, heroes, policemen, number of kills etc.), thus allowing a practically infinite number of scenarios.
Budapest, May 23rd, 2000
Erika Katalina Pásztor
1979-84 Diplom für Architektur an der Technischen Universität, Budapest • 1985-89 Diplom für Audio-Visuelle Kunst und Design/Visuelle Kommunikation an der Ungarischen Akademie für Angewandte Kunst • 1988 Minerva Art Academy, Groningen, NL • seit 1989 Lehrauftrag für audio-visuelles Design an der Ungarischen Akademie für Angewandte Kunst • seit 1995 Leitung des Ars Wonderland Studios, Budapest • 2000 Gründerin des ArchitectForum - Online Magazin für ungarische Architekten • seit 1986 Teilnahme an zahlreichen internationalen Festivals und Ausstellungen • Videografie (Auswahl): 1988 „Temptation Aurora 41“ • 1989 „Video Diary Fragments“ Teil 1 & 2 • 1990 „Dream-Line“ 1991-93 „Corset“ • 1993 „Joz, Ek & Lili“ • 1995 „Archetype in Oriental Rap“ • 1996 „Nothing Special Happened“
Akos Balázs
1974 in Budapest geboren • studierte von 1993-98 Computer Science an der Eötvös Loránd Universität • Aufbaustudium Informatik an der ELTE FNS Phd School: Forschungsgebiet Realtime Animation und Deformation geometrischer Modelle • Arbeitspraxis: Interactive 3D car racing game im Auftrag von Szerencsejátèk Rt.; Virtual Sudio und Clock Generator im Auftrag von MTM-SBS Television (TV2); Wettervorhersage System im Auftrag von MTM-SBS Television (TV2)
Anita Sárosi
1972 in Gyöngyös, Ungarn geboren • 1991-97 Diplom in visuelle Kommunikation der ungarischen Akademie für Angewandte Kunst seit 1997 Dozent an der Akademie • Vorstandsmitglied der Bêla Bálàzs Studio (BBS) • 1998 Gyula Derkovits Fine Arts Scholarship • Videographie: 1993 Sallanita (video collage) • 1994 Clip (for piano) 1995 Home • 1996 Drum • 1997 Map (Diplomarbeit) • 1998 The emperors new clothes (installation) • 1999 Invisible Immortal (3D-Animation) • seit 1994 Teilnahme und Preise bei internationalen Festivals und Ausstellungen, u.a. Preis des Instituts für ungarische Kultur, Tatabánya; Preis für die beste 3D-Animation beim OFF Open Film Festival, Budapest und 2. Preis in der Kategorie „Virtual reality“ bei der Biennale der ungarischen Digital-Designer, an der ungarischen Nationalgalerie, Budapest
