AFTER LIFE VR GAME MOVIE
On the one hand, it presents as a movie with actors, no graphic-based user interface, no hand controls, and no player-controlled character (the camera doesn’t personify a second-person perspective, for instance), while on the other the press kit still actually refers to players rather than viewers-and, of course, it was built on a game engine rather than just Premiere or Final Cut. (Three degrees of freedom, or 3DoF, means the point of view is fixed so the viewer has less control, but it has the advantage of compatibility with phone-based VR and lower-end headsets like the Oculus Go, while the alternative six degrees of freedom, 6DoF, allows the viewer to move around the space but requires more complex image capture methods and higher-end headsets that can track the viewer’s position.)īut, for me as a writer, the most interesting thing about the film is definitely how its narrative branches are packaged together to create a truly hybrid form, neither quite film nor game. The camera team also utilized a unique rig which allowed for smooth movements, and while the resulting film is limited to three degrees of freedom, it makes the space feel less locked down, as though the viewer actually could get up and move around. The cinematography, by DP Juan Camilo Palacio, is crisp and easy to follow, a necessity in 360-degree shooting, which requires viewers to not only follow the story but provide input to the game engine without necessarily being aware of it. A live-action drama lasting about half an hour, Afterlife deals with a family’s grief after the death of their youngest child and the unexpected journeys it sends the three remaining family members on. Released on multiple VR platforms and in a 360-degree 2D version on August 21, it’s the first VR film from the Montreal-based Signal Space Lab, an audio production house now branching out into its own IPs. The new film Afterlife moves us a great deal in that direction.
While this can result in compelling products, like the 2017 VR film Broken Night, many filmmakers in the space miss the immersion of a traditional film and want to mask the more game-like control mechanics in an increasingly seamless process.
The mechanics of the latter have often been intrusive, however, making viewers click a link or-with the recent flowering of virtual reality-direct their gaze at an icon indicating their narrative selection. Afterlife, Jose Aguirre, Luisa Valencia, Virtual Realityįilms and video games have been moving closer together for years now, including open world games that mimic cinematic storytelling and videos that include viewer input in the style of a choose-your-own-adventure novel.
0 kommentar(er)
