Interrogation VR
We are intending this project for new and experienced users of virtual reality hardware, who may need demonstration content for showing off the capabilities of virtual reality. As Meta is the dominant brand in the virtual reality market, we are targeting this at their customers too for a broader reach. It’s noticeable that while virtual and augmented reality is growing worldwide, there’s a noticeable disinterest from people unfamiliar with the technology, with over 26% of U.S. adults surveyed showing little to no interest in VR. And while interactive games and simulations are typically the best demonstrations of VR’s capabilities, creating an experimental film demonstrating the technology would appeal to those, who may like sitting down and watching something on Netflix, and would like something different and more immersive.
The visual style goes for a very dark and initially intimidating mood, set by the minimal lighting akin to a typical crime drama or an action film. Only for it to be subverted by a sudden comedic twist at the end, with influences coming from comedians like Benny Hill.
Firstly, although we had booked several hours for a studio space, thanks to the fact that our assigned actor, Shervin, was able to easily adapt into his role amidst his impromptu casting, we were able to complete filming an hour earlier than planned. The extra time had also allowed us to gather additional camera coverage that would be useful for our editor (also Shervin), and allowed us to explore any possible ways of cutting the film.
Working on a 360 film provided its own set of challenges, starting with how we directed the shots. When working in a 2D perspective, a director’s mind is concerned about framing, the flow of certain shots, however, as our audience is using virtual reality headsets, that type of editing would break their immersion and as a result, become jarring. So this meant having to plan shots, thinking about what’s around the space rather than framing what I would want to be shown, and editing in a way that didn’t break any immersion.
We had also initially planned a branching narrative, with multiple choices, though this ended up being slightly more complicated and it was dropped as a result. In addition, we never had much of a proper shooting plan, largely due to balancing directing duties between this and another project, so a lot of the production was done largely impromptu, with the shot list decided based on a checklist rather than a storyboard.