TECH IMMERSIVE
dictates the viewer’s point of view and mediates their emotional connection to characters. All that goes out of the window with immersive production, when the viewer is ‘in the scene’ and can choose their own viewpoint,” he muses. “This dictates some important changes in a director’s approach to mise-en- scène, blocking and camera placement, especially for narrative filmmaking, to ensure the audience stays engaged and doesn’t miss key moments.” He draws a parallel with theatre: “Due to the 180° field of view, an audience member can look wherever they want at any time during a scene. It becomes more like stagecraft in guiding the viewer’s attention.” The way you choose to guide them can take many forms, such as sound or light, suggests Mikkelborg, pointing to The Line , a Brazilian VR short that uses a simple spotlight to guide the viewer’s gaze through a miniature love story. “It’s done in such a simple but clever way,” she enthuses. Multisensory experiences might take this even further. Her British Airways- funded VR experience Fly , shown at the Saatchi Gallery and recipient of the best documentary experience at Raindance in 2020, is an exhilarating journey through the history and possible future of aviation. “We explored all the multisensory aspects that you could include when you have somebody’s entire audio-visual attention, incorporating wind, touch and smell – these are other ways you can direct attention in this medium,” she assures. Shooting with a camera that has a 180° field of view means a different approach when it comes to lighting and audio too, says Heffernan. Lighting rigs and stands, generally placed around set, might now be visible to the viewer, so you need to think about gear that can be subtly integrated and appear part of the environment. “Boom mics would clearly be seen above any camera, so it’s more likely that actors will need to be fitted with lavalier microphones hidden in costumes for their dialogue,” he adds. But immersive production offers an “opportunity to expand existing surround sound mixes by integrating spatial audio, allowing scene- or object-based audio to be captured and mixed in order to
IMMERSIVE BASTILLE DAY Produced by Immersive Flashback for
Apple Vision Pro, a new film captures France’s national celebration using the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive and finished in DaVinci Resolve Studio
give the viewer a 360° surround audio experience,” according to Heffernan. “Productions will have to use newer ambisonic microphones, which can capture full-scene soundscapes, creating fully engaging scenes.” Immersive storytelling also changes the equation when it comes to motion. If you get it wrong, it can be a surefire way to make your viewer feel queasy. Mikkelborg recalls the early days when the camera would simply be placed on a tripod in the scene and you’d press record, taking all creative control away from the director.
Over time, though, she and others have learned how to use movement to enhance immersion rather than causing problems. “Smooth cinematic movement can work,” she notes. “In Adventure , which has a motorsports episode, the motion is very fast but it’s still comfortable because it’s smooth, on a single axis and keeps the subject centre in frame. As long as the motion feels purposeful and the body’s inner ear isn’t contradicted enough to cause discomfort, it works beautifully.” Heffernan agrees that camera motion is one of the trickiest balancing acts.
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