VR for documentary
Philo van Kemenade
@phivk
@unfoldSays
what
are we talking about?
Virtual Reality
360º
Video
vs
In VR you control the experience; in 360 you’re simply along for the ride. Having said that, it can be a great ride.
Immersive Media
Mixed Reality
Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality
Responsive VR
360º Cinema
source: Here be dragons - What is VR?
a sharper and more precise tool by which to power the machines of
VR has the potential to become the ultimate
empathy
storytelling device
you do get a profound sensation of space, causing you to forget you’re staring at a screen
With presence,
why
are we talking about this?
immersion
presence
phenomenal storytelling
empathy
what it's like
to be...
Hunger in LA
Nonny de la Peña is an early pioneer in using immersive media in journalistic practice, earning her the nickname of "Godmother of immersive journalism". Although her early projects like Hunger in LA and Project Syria use limited graphics, she recognized that the bodily sense of 'being there' can open up doors to truely impactful experiences of non-fictional stories. One of her students went on to develop his prototype of an immersive headset inspired by the work in her research lab and... well, the rest is history in the making.
Assent
"Assent allows audiences to engage personally with the events and emotions of the Caravan of Death, through my father’s eyes, and mine."
6x9
VR's biggest issue at to moment is that it provides such an isolating anti-social experience. What better medium than this to experience solitary confinement! 6x9 shows how VR can sometimes be a really good fit to a story. It also brilliantly shows how important audio is in VR and that you can have a deeply meaningful experience with simple visual elements if the audio is well produced.
Author: The Guardian (Francesca Panetta)
Production: The Mill
Year: 2016
Country: UK
Blackout
If Computer-Generated Imagary formed the main building blocks of Hunger in LA and Audio interviews in 6x9, in Blackout it is Volumetric Film. The creators of Blackout have created their own custom toolkit, combining a depth sensor (repurposed from the Kinect) with a DSLR to record 3 dimensions over time. This pioneering work is only scratching the surface of what is possible with this technique, and is a clear sign that there much more will follow.
Author: Scatter
Year: 2016
Country: US
Notes on Blindness
Instead of 'just' transporting you to another location, this project is a good example that VR also has the potential to put you in an entirely different reality. The mediud doesn't have to show us a virtual version of the reality we already know, but can present us with an alternate reality that works different than the one we usually inhibit.