Collapsus is a project that combines animation, interactive fiction, and documentary film.[1] This story follows how the impending energy crisis affects ten young people, while international powers battle with political dissension and a fearful population during transition from Fossil fuel to alternative fuels.[2] Set in the near future, Collapsus was initialized to raise awareness of the global issue of peak oil.[3]
The project combines Video blogging, interactive maps, fictional newscasts, live action footage, and animation to immerse the player in the narrative, an example of Transmedia storytelling.[4] The project requires the player to access and assess additional information and make decisions about the world’s energy production at both a national and global scale.[5]
Collapsus was developed by SubmarineChannel, with the Dutch public broadcaster VPRO, who produced the associated Energy Transition documentary the project is based on.[6] Collapsus is directed by Tommy Pallotta, who produced A Scanner Darkly (film) and Waking Life.[7]
Collapsus blends live action and the rotoscoping animation technique, co-developed by Pallotta, and used in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly (film).[8]