Part game, part testament to Australia’s boxing greats, I’m Your Man is an interactive documentary that places the user in the thick of the action. Narrative shifts perspective as you watch and play. Are youdoing well and landing those punches? Hear about the glories of the win. Up against the ropes? You’ll hear about the internal doubts and fears of the boxer mentality.
“We wanted to build something completely new. Part traditional documentary, part rhythm game. And an experience that would bring the audience close to the visceral experience of boxing, all whilst exploring the inner monologue of our subject.
Matt Smith
Creative Director
Background
At its core is the story of one up-and-comer, Billie Dib, pitted against the greats. Honest and open about the personal devastation he has faced, Dib reveals how this inspired him to return to the sport he loves.
His three life-altering matches are depicted as mini-games, utilising point cloud gesture recognition. As an audience member, you become thrust into the world of boxing, now as a ‘player’. Swiping gestures become punches and blocks, timed to a non-linear video sequence. Land them accurately, and reveal Dib’s perspectives on winning and drive. Swinging and missing shows another side of the story; the lows of loss and the anxiety of failure.
Concepting
A novel idea requires forensic planning
I’m Your Man is totally unique. Using illustration, interactive video, gesture-based interface, and a 3D engine, this hybrid project allows the user to control and feel every punch. To do so required blending unlikely disciplines of filmmaking and game development.
To bring these two worlds together, we developed our own design language. A hybrid system of planning documents that every crew member – from the Director of Photography to the developer team – could understand, part storyboard, part interactive flow diagram.
“Whilst conceptually, the project is looking to the future, our art style needed to capture the deep tradition, history and lore of Australian boxing.
Matt Smith
Creative Director
Illustration + 3D
Remember to breath
Woven through Dib’s story, we explore the diverse history of some of Australia’s best-known boxing legends. After each fight, audiences return to The Gym. A hub for the stories of Australia’s boxing legends. The team worked with celebrated New York based illustrator Timba Smits to craft beautifully intricate artwork and portraits of luminary Australian boxers that launch into six side-narratives, spanning Lionel Rose to Kostya Tszu.
Timba’s 2D artwork was meticulously dissected by the team, built into a 3D diorama in Maya, and exported to WebGL, creating a space that audiences could pan and zoom through, exploring the deep history of Australian boxing. The look and feel is a love letter to the traditional language of sports poster design and trading cards, reimagined for a modern audience.
Results
The result is an award-winning project that is entirely without precedent, conceptually and visually one of a kind, drawing on Distil’s unique ability to pull together mediums and creative partners from diverse and unlikely backgrounds.
For
- SBS
Industry Recognition
- The Webby Awards
- Honoree – Best Use of Interactive Video
- FWA
- Site of the Day
- CSS Design Awards
- Website of the Day
Delivery
- Production
- Creative Direction, Design, Motion Graphics
- Development
- ThreeJS, WebGL GLSL, Javascript
Collaborators
- Roslyn Oades
- Original stage play
- Peter O’Donoghue
- Editor
- Timba Smits
- Illustration
- Briggs
- Music
