MOVIE MATTERS MAKING SENSE OF VR
THE ART OF TELLING STORIES Filmmaking is filmmaking, whether it’s a traditional production or a piece destined for use in a VR context, and Vanishing Point Media has used its experience of the former tomove across to the latter BUSINESS TRENDS
WORDS TERRY HOPE
A nnie Lukowski, one half of business partner BJ Schwartz decided to make the brave move from conventional filmmaking to throw themselves into the embryonic, and far more unpredictable, world of 360° and VR production. “We did it because we’re insane masochists and were looking to combine all the problems of an independent production company with the headaches that come with a technology start- up,” she tells me, with the straightest of straight faces. That’s a joke, right? Ok, yes it is but, as Annie reminds me, sometimes jokes are funny “because they have just that little element of truth about them…” Hollywood-based Vanishing Point Media (VPM), is quick to respond when asked why she and
The pair have made a lurch sideways into an area where there’s very little in the way of rules and regulations, simply because all of those involved to date are pioneers who are finding out the hard way what works and what doesn’t. But someone has to be first in, and by leading from the front VPM has established itself as one of the leading exponents of the VR revolution, and the reward has been some amazing cutting-edge commissions that have been a heady mix of enormous fun and the steepest of steep learning curves. “Honestly, we still very much consider ourselves filmmakers,” says Annie. “We just happen to be focusing on telling immersive stories in VR Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) right now. BJ and I met at USC film school in Los Angeles where we were the exclusive members of a
two-person mutual admiration club, and yet, somehow, we never quite got to work together in a major way. After that we went our separate ways for a while before getting together to work on a feature script. “While that was in progress, we were contacted by a mutual friend – the IMAGES Annie Lukowski and BJ Schwartz took a brave leap into the unknown world of video production when they set up Vanishing Point Media.
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PRO MOVIEMAKER WINTER 2018
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