The ancient art of weaving tales and the cutting edge of immersive technology unite in Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: The Seven Ravens, a new augmented reality storybook crafted by the Emmy Award-winning Felix & Paul Studios in Montreal. The innovative studio is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a world premiere for The Storyteller at the 80th Venice International Film Festival this month.
Based on Jim Henson’s 1987 live-action/puppet folk tale series and narrated by Neil Gaiman (creator of Coraline and The Sandman), The Storyteller‘s tale follows a courageous young girl as she sets out on an adventure to save her seven brothers from a curse that turned them into ravens. Bringing this intriguing immersive project to life were Felix & Paul Studio’s co-founders Félix Lajeunesse (Chief Creative Officer), Stéphane Rituit (Executive Producer/CEO) and Paul Raphaël (Chief Innovation Officer), who took us behind the AR visions to answer a few questions.
Animation Magazine: Can you tell us a bit about how Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: The Seven Ravens came to be?
Paul Raphaël: When we set our sights on augmented reality after years of exploring storytelling in virtual reality, we wanted to develop an experience that would bring a strong feeling of presence despite the fact that you don’t control the viewer’s environment in AR.
We thought the book would be the perfect medium to bring stories and characters into the living room, providing both a familiar portal into another world and creating an unprecedentedly tactile and intuitive way to interact with it.
We were in discussion with Lisa Henson on another project at the time, but as this concept started taking shape, we proposed adapting The Storyteller, as it was perfectly suited to demonstrate its potential. She loved the idea and, along with Magic Leap’s founder Rony Abovitz’s enthusiastic approval and support, we were off to the (virtual) press!
How long did it take to complete and how many people worked on it?
It’s been a long and winding five years in the making with our team at Felix & Paul Studios, which is about 65 people strong, as well as with the participation of many external collaborators, so easily 100-plus!
Which animation and VR tools were used to create it?
A blend of animation and VR tools were utilized to breathe life into the narrative of Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: The Seven Ravens.
Autodesk’s Maya was employed for the meticulous tasks of modeling, rigging and intricate hand animation, ensuring characters moved naturally and interacted seamlessly within their environment. MotionBuilder played a pivotal role in translating the raw, authentic energy from motion capture into digital performances that maintained lifelike nuances. Furthermore, Quill, a VR painting and animation tool, was instrumental in shaping the book’s immersive world.
What was the most challenging aspect of this project?
There were a few major ones! For starters, while VR is still in its infancy, AR is even more so, and keeping up with the rate of evolution of the industry and technology was (and continues to be) a challenge.
The pandemic also hit about the time we were actually hoping to originally release the project, which set everything off track.
The biggest challenge though has been developing the tracking algorithm that allows us to match the augmented images to the physical book with as high a level of precision and as little delay as possible.
What did you love most about this project and working with Neil Gaiman?
Neil was a joy to work with. We recorded his voice over remotely during the pandemic and he was incredibly impassioned and insisted on re-recording his performance until it was absolutely pitch perfect.
What I actually loved most though was finally meeting him just a few weeks ago to show him the finished experience in person. Not only was seeing his reaction first hand a treat, but his children and grandchildren were also there to try it, and his reaction to their reactions was absolutely priceless.
What were your visual inspirations for this project?
Jim Henson’s unmatched ability to breathe life into inanimate objects was an absolutely foundational inspiration for the project.
The art of Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin was also a big influence. We really wanted to bring the beauty of his 2D illustrations into the 3D realm.
Where do you see VR going in the next few years?
AR and VR have the incredible power of allowing us to interact and experience the digital realm in a more human and natural way than the abstracted 2D interfaces of the frst few decades of the digital revolution.
I expect VR and AR to progressively become a major part of our lives, enhancing not only our entertainment, but the way we work and interact with others in the future.
Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: The Seven Ravens premieres in the Venice Immersive program of the Venice International Film Festival (Aug. 30-Sept. 9). The studio’s Space Explorers: Blue Marble – Orbit 1 VR piece, shot from the International Space Station, is also running as one of the festival’s “Best of Immersive” selections. Registration and additional information available at labiennale.org.
Learn more about The Storyteller and Felix & Paul’s other projects at felixandpaul.com.
