cOVER fEatuRE ACCESS All AreAS
Refl ections on VR’s
ascension
With VR now mainstream,
Shooting Partners' Shaun Wilton
refl ects on its mass appeal
potential
When I fi rst examined VR earlier this decade, the
technology was emerging and catching up with
the expectation, or maybe even driving it. I was
waiting for the right camera technology to give a
high end, pro solution.
We fi nally invested in the Nokia Ozo, which was
originally about £50,000 but went through a few
phases of rapid improvements.
The camera is an all in one unit, that looks
like a robot head with eyes. I could see Nokia's
approach was friendly enough to be accepted in
many situations and didn’t need a big rig, so it
would suit fi lming gigs.
Veteran rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers
had their gigs in Germany fi lmed in VR as part
of Deutsche Telekom’s Street Gigs concert
series using four Ozos. I knew then that VR
was accepted – the band, the venue, everyone
embraced it. The Ozo was even on stage with
them.
I saw the Ozo in the fl esh at the NAB show,
where there were live working models. We
invested before the end of 2016 and shot footage
of Kylie at the Albert Hall, an iconic venue where
a lot of people want to be in the front row. 360 lent
itself to that. You are there! It is really close up
and the results were impressive.
You needed good post produc tion expertise
to stitch the footage together convincingly, and
that took a lot of understanding. The fi lming itself
however, was pretty straightforward.
AccEssAA.co.Uk
directions convincingly, prompting you to turn your
head. If you hear a scream, or breaking glass.
“Another smart trick was using heaters when
the participants encounter the lava. Your suit even
vibrates when you're hit. It’s very clever and taps
into additional revenue to take the movie experience
further.”
Th is isn’t the fi rst VR movie tie-in to take
experiential into the multiplexes, Adrian Leu,
CEO of Inition, told Access. “Th ere’s a few cinema
chains looking at this model very seriously including
IMAX. We previously hired a ‘wing suit simulator’
and motion platform to simulate wing suit fl ight
as a tie-in with the movie remake of Point Break.
Th e experience, organised by Warner Brothers, was
aimed at re-creating a scene where the characters
take a 21,000 foot skydive. It attracted more than
200 people over three days at Westfi eld.”
With creative projects such as this garnering
praise, Hollywood seems ready to embrace VR
wholeheartedly. Director Steven Spielberg reportedly
said upcoming fi lm Ready Player One – set in a VR
obsessed world – will do for VR what Jurassic Park
did for dinosaurs.
Th e fi lm’s pop culture referencing action is set to
be far more utopian to prior depictions of VR, such
as the Wachowski’s Th e Matrix, which showed a
nightmarish vision of a virtual world. For Wilton,
the manner in which VR is promoted could be
crucial to its long-term success.
He says: “As a super fan you can now pay to take
things a step further. A trap that content producers
can fall into however, is thinking that everything
they make has to be fantastical and over the top.
Avatar, for example, fl ipped expectations on the
medium of 3D fi lms. Its eff ects were subtle and in
the background.
“Th ose creating VR content have a responsibility
at this early stage not to scare off customers. Putting
a 360 camera on a rollercoaster is a mistake. It
can cause people to be damning to that entire
technology. Shock tactics can have a lasting negative
eff ect.”
Th ankfully, more consumer-friendly examples are
already proving successful at moulding expectations.
Topshop, for example, allowed people to access its
offi cial catwalk show in Turbine Hall. Production
company Inition pulled in multiple media streams of
the live environment, including two streams of live
HD from the front row and backstage.
Positional 3D sound and live tweets also featured
in the experience – these were written on autumnal
leaves and dropped into the footage by a ‘helpful
crow’. A time-lapse of the set build and 360° stills
was also brought into the environment so that
viewers could explore 360° selfi es taken by celebs and
backstage.
Several hundred people experienced the show on-
demand in the days following the event. Topshop’s
feedback was glowing. “We couldn’t have asked
for better results,” says Sheena Sauvaire, global
marketing and communications director, Topshop.
“Inition pulled off a great job.”
Wilton adds that some truly emotionally resonant
content has been made for VR. “For ROAR London,
we embraked on a project to help people with
bereavements. Th ey produced some very powerful
content in which you were a member of a family that
has experienced loss. It portrayed a ‘before loss’ and
‘after loss’ scene.
“Animation studio Aardman [and the BBC]
meanwhile, made a VR experience set in a boat
in which you are surrounded by refugees. BBC
interview dialogues were used by the cartoony
looking characters. I’m telling you, ten seconds
in and you want out! Th e empathy it generates is
powerful. You put a device on your face and you are
in a new world. Th ey speak directly to you.”
Leu says that VR has equal potential to provide
relaxing, emotional and beautiful experiences. He
points to Inition’s activity in Burj Khalifa, Dubai,
as well as the Shard Viewing Gallery, London: two ››
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