Our jobs at newspapers have expanded. As a photographer I  am now shooting still, video, collecting audio, and producing multimedia. However one thing I never thought I would be doing at a newspaper is photographing for a video game. But that’s exactly what I found myself doing a couple weeks ago. Our web team came up with the idea of making a video game starring Athletica goalkeeper Hope Solo to preview the upcoming playoffs and WPS All star game which will be here in St. Louis.

To start, interactive designer Brian Williamson put together an animated mock video game (see above photo). He then asked me if I could photograph Hope diving for balls and making saves at practice. He wanted to use the photos to analyze how she moved and worked in the goal so his animation could mirror it.

For the final product Brian used a type of character animation called Jib Jab, which allows you to animate photos by using a collage of photography and original animation.

To make Hope talk he took a photo and adjusted her features to exaggerate them and make her mouth and eyes move. The sequence above shows some of what he did.

Below is a screen grab of the final product. Its a mix of my photos, his animation, and audio from Hope. I can honestly say that it’s the first first time I’ve seen my photos move and talk back to me.

If you get a chance, give it a shot! Can you score on Hope Solo?