Hey everyone!
Here's a little sneak peak at Shutter Story's photo creation process!
I use licensed, model released stock photos of real people from different eras (from the 2000s dating all the way back to the 1920s!) These are not the usual "stock photos" that come to mind when you hear the word (the super slick ones specifically designed for advertisements) but real photos of people taken by their friends or family with their own cameras, for the sake of capturing a special moment.
This is what gives the photos in the game the real, eerie, vibe - no staged or generated photo can capture this effect.
To make sure the characters in the photos relate to the in-game family, and to ensure the family members look identical to their own older or younger selves in different photos, I use photoshop to replace their faces with the ones from the in-game characters.
Here's a video that shows how it's done! -
One of the hardest part in this whole process is digging through stock photo websites, looking for real, vintage photos (there aren't many!) that fit the time period, appearance, situation and story required for the game.
What do you think? :)
- Armaan