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Recently at GeekDad we announced the launch of CIA: Operation Ajax, a dynamic and engaging new digital graphic novel for iPad.
The story itself is based on actual events involving the CIA involvement in Iranian politics in the 1950s. The story of the app's development and design is just as interesting, and we got to ask a few questions of the developers at Cognito Comics. They talked us through a three year process from idea and concept, all the way through to launch.
The answers really help get a feel for just how much work is going in to the development and production of amazing apps like CIA: Operation Ajax.
GeekDad: Where did the inspiration for such a project come from?
Cognito Comics: The war with Iraq left me asking a lot of questions. In 2007, I had just finished up on Tony Hawk 8, and frankly, I wasn't feeling like I was producing meaningful work as an artist. I discovered the book Overthrow by Kinzer and I was like "Oh my god! Look at all this undiscussed history of the United States!" It explained so much to me about world events, and I wanted more Americans to know these stories.
I started wondering if the awesome marriage of art and tech that was practiced in games could deliver the stories in Kinzer's books to a wider audience. However, doing another game didn't really seem viable at the time (this was the PS2 and Xbox days) so I thought a traditional graphic novel made more sense.
I met Stephen Kinzer in 2008 at a book signing and I pitched him on the spot as he was signing my copy of All the Shah's Men. He paused, looked up at me and said, "That's a great idea." I was stunned. I figured I would get something like "no way, kid," etc., given that I had like no prior experience in comics. But he seemed serious, and with his buy in, the project started in earnest.
GD: Was iOS your first preference for delivery? Was this always going to be a digital project? If not, what guided it that way?
CC: Ajax started as a traditional print comic book. In early 2010, we had just finished the script and were gearing up for art production when the iPad was announced. Up till this point, I was really just acting as a producer since I neither write nor illustrate, so I saw an opportunity to leverage my background in games by changing gears. Tall Chair and I had been collaborating in the iPhone space with some of my students, and we basically came to the table at the same time and said "We should do Ajax on the iPad!" I didn't realize just how powerful the iPad would be as a platform, being able to blend together games, comics, and film into new storytelling experiences.
GD: Some of the original documents and news reels are fantastic. What was the process obtaining those like - they really add to the story, providing valuable authenticity and context - how did you come up with the idea to use original documents?
CC: Since Ajax is a well documented historical event, there was a ton of material out there for both story research and drawing reference. The original coup plan was declassified in 2000, and we found it online. We had this huge trove of material collected for the print book and discovering that we could embed it into the iPad was like this completely eye-opening experience. I thought "OK, this is really a story about the CIA, how can I use that as a theme to show more information?" and from that came the Files section. We kept finding new ways to blend more of these historical artifacts into the product. Our producer Katie Edmonds spent many hours collecting and curating free to use photos, and documents, as much of the original research material was copyrighted.
GD: Can you describe some of the production process, it obviously requires more work than a standard graphic novel... is it more like producing a movie?
CC: I come from Games, and my script writer, Mike de Seve, from Animated Film and TV. We were both accustomed to working on large teams with many artists all working together on a single vision. Once we went to iPad, Ajax by its nature required a production team approach. The pages needed to be built in layers so they could then be animated in the Active Reader tool. Even without layers, it was still a ton of work just to make the print comics page work, and I have nothing but respect for those that work in traditional comics. I've learned it's not easy!
GD: What do you want most for the readers of CIA: Operation Ajax - what should they come away from the reading experience with?
CC: I sincerely believe that if we are to do the right things going forward as a country, we need to understand our past. The relationship between the US and Iran is not well understood by Americans, and my hope is that this story reaches a wide western audience, challenges their assumptions, and through that larger context of understanding improves the US relationship with Iran. In short, I'm trying to change the world.
GD: I personally found the sound most engaging and really took the work to the next level. Can you tell us how that all came about and who was behind your audio?
CC: Thanks! Yeah, sound almost didn't happen. Completely 11th hour. I had wanted it from the beginning, but quickly got shot down as being too complicated when we hadn't even worked out our animation workflow. However, after things started really coming together with the animation, we decided to give it a shot. The task fell completely on the shoulders of our sound designer, Andrew Scott Duncan. We knew it would be expensive and push back our release date, but after we saw a few test pages, we knew it was essential to what we were trying to accomplish. It was a tremendous amount of work, as all of us were new to developing sound for interactive, but in the end, the long hours were worth it. It's a testament to the power of the Active Reader, as Tall Chair made it possible for us create something complex with minimal programming support.
GD: So, what is next for the Cognito Comics team?
CC: While it may not look like it, Operation Ajax is actually entirely 3D, with a flat camera. We've barely scratched the surface with what the Active Reader can do. The iPad provides incredible new experiences in storytelling, and after all the lessons learned from Ajax, we are more eager than ever to keep pushing the boundaries of this awesome new platform. We've been talking to a number of potential partners and may have a card or two up our own sleeves...
You can download CIA: Operation Ajax at iTunes App Store for $7.99.
