Pro Moviemaker Autumn 2018

MOVIE MATTERS

MAKING SENSE OF VR

IMAGES My Africa follows a young Samburu woman as she takes viewers through the daily life of her community.

“We are constantly looking to push the envelope”

“At times this process was fairly exhaustive. When we were in the Masai Mara, for example, filming the annual migration, there was a point where the word went out over the radios that something exciting was happening and suddenly it was like the cavalry coming over the hills as around 100 four-wheel drive vehicles suddenly arrived as if from nowhere. We ended up having to use clean plates to take them all out of the shot.” End users While productions such as My Africa can’t be viewed at a conventional cinema, there are high-profile events taking place around the world where the best VR productions are highlighted. The production was shown at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival in New York in high resolution headsets supplied by Idealens. The Stereo 360 filmwas part of a two- part narrative, together with ‘My Africa: Elephant Keeper,’ in which a user dons a headset and an HP backpack PC and is able to walk around inside the movie. For this project DOP Chris Campkin captured thousands of high-resolution photos and back at Vision3’s base, designer Elliott Round painstakingly built the environment within Unity, and worked closely with HTC Vive to create a tactile

The demand for high-quality and innovative VR is undoubtedly there and those lucky enough to experience the end result are inevitably captivated, proof that this mediumworks on a level that conventional film can only dream about. The market at the moment might be comparatively small thanks to the restrictions on viewing, but with headset technology making massive strides it’s surely just a matter of time before this technology goes well and truly mainstream.

experience that foregoes controllers and buttons. Instead of the traditional approach the audience interacts via real objects such as a sponge and bottle. “We are constantly looking to push the envelope and come up with new ways of doing things,” says Adam. “That’s the exciting thing about VR: no-one says that a story has to be approached in a particular way. You’re exploring fresh territory, there is no wrong way to do something. “Our latest project sees us working with side-by-side Sony A7s cameras fitted with 180° lenses and protected behind bullet- proof glass, which have been hidden away in a riverbank to capture the migration of thousands of wildebeests. The viewer will be able to see these flying over their heads as though they’re there, and it will be an amazing thing to experience.”

More information

www.vision3.tv/vr www.conservation.org/myafrica

www.jauntvr.com www.insta360.com

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AUTUMN 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER

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