Virtual reality makes a splash at Sundance
The Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah is abuzz with people talking about virtual reality. Attendees are raving about their experiences with virtual reality projects like Birdly (a flight simulator taking you above San Francisco), Project Syria (where you experience a bombing on a Syrian street), and Lost (an animated movie from the Oculus Rift Story Studio).
Why are film geeks obsessing about virtual reality? Simply put, VR has the potential to turn watching a film into experiencing a film.
“Ocular evolution really is a leap in the ability of storytellers to bring the viewer inside the frame of the storyworld,” explains filmmaker turned transmedia curator Shari Frilot, who in 2007 started the Sundance exhibit-cum-incubator New Frontier.
Last week, New Frontier hosted a panel called ‘A new language in filmmaking: virtual reality’ which featured music video director Chris Milk, animator Saschka Unseld, filmmaker Rose Troche, interaction designer Max Rheiner, and animator Glen Keane. We were particularly struck by the discussion about empathy, access and storytelling in virtual reality. Here are some of the takeaways.
https://twitter.com/laurenmerrs/status/561246940168335360
#NewFrontier panelists discuss how to use #VirtualReality as a form of storytelling for narrative and journalistic purposes #Sundance2015
— Katharine Schwab (@SchwabKatharine) January 30, 2015
On empathy and immersion
"Immersion is the power of virtual reality, not interactivity. It's immersion touching people." -Chris Milk #NewFrontier #Sundance2015
— Katharine Schwab (@SchwabKatharine) January 30, 2015
Chris Milk: potential for empathy in VR that is unsurpassed by previous mediums. Because you are placed in that world. #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Chris Milk: documentary makes sense in VR. You understand the presence of a camera in a real situation & your place within it. #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Rose Troche: how do we use VR as an empathetic tool to help us understand each other? #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Saschka Unseld: how do we make people smile? Feel real joy? #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Glen Keane: being a storyteller is a noble thing but now you're not controlling, you're coaxing. Like a magician. #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Glen Keane: how do you create a narrative in a virtual world? Makes me think about how people refer to "experience" now. #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
"Version 197 of VR is the Matrix, where you can't tell the difference between this world and that world" -Chris Milk #NewFrontier #Sundance
— Katharine Schwab (@SchwabKatharine) January 30, 2015
The challenges for virtual reality filmmakers
Chris Milk: right now the power is the immersion, not the interactivity. Or storytelling I would add! #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
What about character development and narrative arc in VR? #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Do we know how to watch things in VR? Do we know where to look? What about the "anxiety of choice"? #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
So many folks I have spoken to at #NewFrontier are excited about experimental, surreal, experiential work in VR rather than story per se.
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Glen Keane: real challenge to take a character with you through a film. Making them real even after they leave the screen. #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
What happens when you no longer have a frame to work with? When the audience is the camera. Is film the right metaphor for VR? #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
"As a viewer, I don't know how to watch VR" – Saschka Unseld #NewFrontier #Sundance2015
— Katharine Schwab (@SchwabKatharine) January 30, 2015
Rose Troche: it comes down to "what is this about?" and everything should serve that. #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Democratization and access
The technology will become more accessible soon. Access is something I think about lots with VR. Who gets to play? #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Google Cardboard is one option at the moment in terms of access. #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Glen Keane: VR is a very personal experience at the moment. But what if it was more like street theater? Big shared events. #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Chris Milk: I would love to see a room full of people experiencing a VR project at the same time and talk about it afterwards. #NewFrontier
— Ingrid Kopp (@fromthehip) January 30, 2015
Thanks to Ingrid Kopp of the Tribeca Film Institute for tweeting about the panel.
