Thematic Concept and Practice of VR Filmmaking 2021/2022
Thematic Project Seminar 5: ‘Concept and Practice of VR Filmmaking‘ by Brigit Lichtenegger
5-Day seminar
In the last years VR has gotten a lot of attention. The tech companies have been pushing hard to make VR affordable for consumers, as well as making it easier to create content for this media. VR in itself is not new and artist have been using technology for the creation of immersive environments throughout history. What is new, is that the potential audience is much larger in numbers, which makes it naturally more interesting to use for artistic expression.
But are VR and 360 degree video a hype that will soon pass, or can it be used to create a meaningful experience? If it can be meaningful, for what type of projects? And what type of projects can absolutely not be translated into a VR experience?
In this seminar we aim to develop a vision of the medium by exploring its properties and effects. We will focus in particular on the following issues:
- Place: Where is the border between the physical and the virtual, and where do they overlap?
- The Body: The tension between immersion and (dis)embodiment
Day 1
Venue: Interaction Station, WdKA
10:00 - 11:00: Introduction
11:00 - 12:00: VR Buffet
12:00 - 13:00: Watch Movie
13:00 - 14:00: BREAK
14:00 - 16:40: Hands On demo's and playtime with tools like TiltBrush and Medium
12:00 - 13:00: Instruction on filming
13:00 - 14:00: BREAK
14:00 - 16:00: Hands on Experiment
16:00 - 17:00: Presentations
The goal of this session is to introduce you to the theme of the assignment, Virtual Reality and 360 degree video, and the available tools. We will also hook up the quest to a pc to work with VR that need some more computing power. After this workshop you will have a good idea of the available tools in VR and what it is like to work with them.
Day 2
Venue: Interaction Station, WdKA
10:00 - 10:30: Presentation Seamless Interfaces
10:30 - 12:00: Instruction on filming a 360 video and viewing the video on a VR Headset
12:00 - 16:00: Hands on Experiment
16:00 - 17:00: Evaluation of results so far
After this workshop you will be familiar with the basic proces of recording and viewing a 360 degree video.
Day 3
Venue: Interaction Station, WdKA
10:00 - 17:00: More playtime, and devise a plan for the next days.
Day 4
Venue: Interaction Station, WdKA
12:00 - 17:00: Continue by yourselves
Day 5
Venue: Interaction Station, WdKA
10:00 - 13:00: Continue and Finish the work
13:00 - 14:00: BREAK
14:00 - 15:00: Presentations of results
15:00 - 17:00: Discussion and Conclusion
References:
- Virtual Art: From illusion to Immersion - Oliver Grau
- Redefining the Axiom of Story: The VR and 360 Video Complex: https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/14/redefining-the-axiom-of-story-the-vr-and-360-video-complex
- 360-video-fundamentals: https://thefulldomeblog.com/2014/03/06/360-video-fundamentals/
Examples of 360 videos we will watch:
- Invasion - Baobab Studios https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ0fKW5PttM&t=147s
- Dreams of O - Cirque du Soleil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4uZ5H0IT4Y
- Notes on blindness: Into darkness - Ex Nihilo, ARTE France and AudioGaming, in co-production with Archer’s Mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb5DwAZIQZw&t=150s
- Dear Angelica - Oculus Story Studio - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPORHEhkNfY&ab_channel=Oculus
- The Sun Ladies- Lucid Dreams Productions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc0fTQrdoKw
- Isle of Dogs - Felix and Paul Studio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqXC46b1uUg&t=49s
- Drawing Room - Jan Rothuizen, Sara Kolster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6a3QlFOeYs
- Baba Yaga - Baobab Studios
- Namoo - Baobab Studios
- Gloomy Eyes
- Battlescar
- Goliath VR
More interesting projects:
- Tafelgeheim – Sara Kolster https://sarakolster.com/Tafelgeheim-Out-of-Sight
- Anyways – Pips:Lab http://www.pipslab.org/projects.php?lang=en&installation=36#.XM9tx5MzYWp
- Birdly – Somniacs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWLHIusLWOc&t=4s
- Gender Swap – Experiment with The Machine to Be Another – Be Another Lab https://vimeo.com/84150219
- Barbie-Doll Illusion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRAHJt8YMMY
- Near Death Simulation - Frank Kolkman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-vWUo4rgAQ
- Walk Again Project – Duke University https://qz.com/757516/paraplegics-are-learning-to-walk-again-with-virtual-reality/