back to article Think virtual reality is just about games? Think again, friend

With the launch of PlayStation's VR headset, we are clearly entering a brave new world of virtual reality – everything from the low-end Google Daydream to the far-too-expensive Oculus Rift. But while interest has been focused on the gaming possibilities, an undercurrent of filmmakers has started exploring the storytelling …

  1. P. Lee

    "I felt so alone"

    And there's the problem. Games work in VR because its user-generated content with the VR as a backdrop. Avatars mean its more of a social thing.

    Total immersion and isolation due to lack of avatars might be a powerful novel experience, but if you can't hear your wife laughing with you, its not going to be great. Add the avatars and communication and you get griefers and people doing silly dances at inappropriate times. Instanced dungeons may be the answer, but even then, party members rushing over to look at something in the world (or getting stuck in mid-air) may spoil the story being told.

    VR and film are different beasts - do not mix fish and fowl. Unless of course, plot is not the point of the film, and there are genres where that is true.

    1. VinceH

      Re: "I felt so alone"

      "may spoil the story being told."

      I also think that the framing is important to ensure the viewer actually follows the story. Consider this example from the article:

      "Kaelan describes how in one film a new character is introduced out of shot by shouting a comment to those you are watching. People naturally turn to see where the sound is coming from, and then follow the actor's movements as he walks toward the rest of the cast."

      What happens if the viewer doesn't turn their head? I can easily imagine the ability to choose what to look at - what to concentrate on - has the potential to distract the viewer from the narrative.

      I'll file this away along with 3D, as Yet Another Silly GimmickTM.

      1. Extra spicey vindaloo

        Re: "I felt so alone"

        If the film was a murder mystery genre, not looking away might provide rewarding clues.

        1. Sir Runcible Spoon

          Re: "I felt so alone"

          These headsets really do need a camera and an override button which replaces the vr picture with the camera view and also mutes the volume.

          That way the user can drop out for a second or two or longer without having to actually remove the headset.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "I felt so alone"

      >Unless of course, plot is not the point of the film, and there are genres where that is true.

      However the lack of close-up rules out that genre... :-)

  2. Barry Rueger

    Head Mounted Gadgets

    Although I can see the appeal for gaming, and for some kinds of specific use-cases, I just can't see VR taking off in a big way until you can eliminate the goggles.

    Same with 3D TV, which was sure to be the Next Big Thing, until people realized that wearing cheap plastic sunglasses to watch a movie at home wasn't quite what they wanted to do.

    It's different in an actual cinema, with a crowd, a big screen, and a darkened room - the 3D becomes part of an overall bigger than life experience.

    The fact of the matter is that good old 2D cinema and TV are already sufficiently immersive that for most stories and uses there's very, very little to be added by using 3D effects.

    Especially if you've also got multi channel audio.

    1. VinceH

      Re: Head Mounted Gadgets

      "Same with 3D TV, which was sure to TV manufacturers tried to convince us would be the Next Big Thing, until but people realized it was a gimmick to try and get everyone to replace their perfectly good TVs and that wearing cheap plastic sunglasses to watch a movie at home wasn't quite what they wanted to do."

      FTFY!

      1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
        Stop

        Re: Head Mounted Gadgets

        They've been pushing 3-d every twenty or thirty years since 1840 or so... it's never caught on yet.

  3. Jeffrey Nonken

    No more Behind The Black. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BehindTheBlack

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Roll on ...

    ... Real-time Teledildonics and Free-market-approved Live electronic trading markets in virtual prostitution.

    1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      Re: Roll on ...

      We were promised that 20 years ago.

      Didn't fly then, won't fly now.

  5. Arctic fox
    Headmaster

    Hmm.....

    ""It was shocking, so shocking to me. And I pulled off the headset and I was in the middle of this party with people drinking beer and partying, and I've never felt so alone," she confessed. The intensity of the experience is such that the filmmakers considered whether there was an ethical consideration to ensure viewers didn't feel the disparity between the virtual world and the real world too strongly or too quickly."

    Whilst I do not for one moment suggest that these film makers should not be experimenting with the possiblities that this new creative form of cinema may offer I am obliged to wonder how some emotionally/psychologically fragile people may or may not be able to cope with it. Something to be aware/beware of perhaps.

  6. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    "First up: Deepak Chetty, a director, cinematographer and VR nerd who has won awards for his 3D short films and has been paid by the Washington Post Jeff Bezos, among others, to explore what VR can mean for real-world stories.

    There, fixed.

    You're welcome.

  7. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge

    Short sighted author...?

    In VR, the close-up is dead. Due to the fish-eye lenses that VR cameras use, any actor closer than four feet ends up looking distorted.

    This is surely a limitation of the typical and current technology used in VR cameras.

    Off the top of my head, a circular array of cameras with decent lenses would solve this. If the market is there, the technology will advance to overcome these minor problems.

    And don't call me Shirley.

  8. Hans 1

    VR is DEAD in da Egg

    Nobody, you hear, nobody is gonna wear special glasses - that is why TV3D did not take off ... fun 2 minutes for a geek ... won't work ... do away with silly goggles, yes, might work, this time next century ...

    1. FredBloggs61
      Thumb Down

      Re: VR is DEAD in da Egg

      Nobody, you hear, nobody is gonna wear special glasses - that is why TV3D did not take off ... fun 2 minutes for a geek ... won't work ... do away with silly goggles, yes, might work, this time next century ...

      Thanks for deciding that for everyone?

      I can see quite a few decent uses of VR, maybe not mainstream cinema entertainment.

      But not your decision to make.

      1. Sir Runcible Spoon

        Re: VR is DEAD in da Egg

        VR is very real and completely immersing. There are times when you might not want that, so there will always be options - but if you do then there is quite literally nothing like it.

        On the PSVR subreddit there are people with serious illness who haven't left their houses/bedrooms for years who are getting to experience new things.

        Games are great and all that - but there is a real need for people to 'unhook' from modern life without the need for drugs - I think VR could provide this - it has amazing therapeutic potential that we could all benefit from.

        Someone had the idea for a 'Caribbean Chill-out' which got my vote - bring it on :D Although I'm also looking forward to the Apollo 11 experience too.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yeah, thanks for that...

    Where's the goddamn spoiler alert???

    "You feel like a shy friend," she described the experience. The film moves inside the store, where, at its close, one of the main characters is shot dead by police."

    FML.

  10. PapaD

    Why cinema

    I do wonder though, whether the advent of VR films would mean the death of cinema.

    Why go to sit with 100+ other people if you are in a totally immersive environment where you can't see or hear those around you - why not just do so from the comfort of your home?

    Cinema is generally a social activity, even if you don't talk at all during the film - its shared glances, seeing others reactions, and talking about the experience afterwards. With a VR film, you only have the last of those. Would comedy be as funny if you are watching it solo?

    So, film watching might become a solo affair, even when surrounded by hundreds of people having the same/similar experience - and since there is no need for the big screen, and the big room - just watch the film at home.

    I could see an increase in streaming film content, and potentially the death of cinema. (or at least a diminishment of cinemas for the mainstream as they get relegated to a niche entertainment venue)

  11. Titus Aduxass
    Pint

    Omaha beach

    Can you imagine what it would be like if the landing and battle scenes in Saving Private Ryan were in VR?

    Now that I *would* pay to see.

    1. Snapper

      Re: Omaha beach

      'Funny' you should mention Saving Private Ryan, as the scene where a German soldier slowly pushes a bayonet into the heart of an Allied soldier is an image I found highly upsetting in just 2D.

      Seeing and hearing that as an immersive experience could be as realistic as standing next to it in real life, and I'm pretty sure that would not be good for me or a whole lot of other people.

      Once it becomes cheaper and the technology becomes simpler to operate, I'm sure there will be many VR's created with effects for effects sake, just like Avatar. Horror and 'Action' movies could literally become like drugs, with people under pressure from peers to endure the most emotive and shocking experiences. Cue the provision of nurses and psychiatrists at VR 'events', although why you would take a trip to a theater just to get away from other people and pay, probably handsomely, for it, I don't know.

      OTOH I can see the use of VR as a great relaxation aid, with the ability to chill out much like properly taught meditation can do. I can also see the appeal of 'flying' down the Grand Canyon with Pink Floyd playing.

      Niche product at the end of the day, but it will be hyped as usual.

  12. 0laf

    Hmmmm maybe

    I can see this having a bit more of a chance of working than 3D. 3D was always hype over reality, it's pretty rubbish.

    I can imagine film studios liking this for the replay value, although you may need to turn your head to follow the main action maybe you could have a Naked Gun style film where there are actions and events going on around you that are not related to the main narrative.

    But there would be no point in watching a VR film at a cinema. You might as well have a chair in a cupboard. You might go to watch something on the latest kit but that would be about it.

    Might be worth starting a kick starter to fund a 3D printed sickbag for the major VR brands. Plenty of people (i.e. me) get sick with this stuff.

  13. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    Windows

    "if you are just creating the same experience [..] it makes no sense"

    Finally a voice of sanity in an ocean of madness.

    We've seen what a disaster 3D has become - the first time you see a 3D film you may be amazed, the 10th you're bored out of your mind. Why ? Because all they do at the moment is tack 3D cheap thrills onto a 2D story - nobody is making 3D mean something.

    This is finally someone who is looking through the right end of the looking glass and searching for something that can be done with the technology, not just how to shoehorn it into yet another stupid film.

    I now have hope that future entertainment will actually be different in some ways, instead of being a bunch of gimmicks bolted onto an archaic frame. Majestic, to be sure, but archaic nonetheless.

    Then again, the steering wheel isn't getting any younger, now is it ?

  14. Tikimon
    Thumb Up

    This has awesome potential

    I recently played around with a Cardboard clone, got a couple of VR apps and was unimpressed. Then I figured out I could take my own VR 360 pictures, and 3D single-frame stills. And that has changed the world. Instead of flat pictures of amazing scenes, they now have depth. Everyone I've showed them to is gobsmacked. Even in a still image, being able to look around and see what's close or far really puts you at the scene. It's changed how I document my trips.

    Far from being a useless gimmick, this same You Are There feeling can add immense power to a film. Currently, everything is flat. Thousands of Elves and Orcs crashing together. Mark Watney gazing out over a wide Martian plain. Scenes in a room. FLAT. We have accepted the "looking through a window" feeling of movies because that's all we've had. It's not a virtue.

    Some will prefer the viewpoint jumping around as with current filmmaking. However, it's very artificial, and none of us experience the world in this way. Unless you're leaping around the room and getting in your mates' face every few seconds! The Being There feeling of VR can do wonders to make movies human experiences, not comic book style framing of flat pictures.

    I do suggest that 360 degrees of view isn't necessary. 270 or so would let you look around while keeping your attention on The Good Stuff. Also allow the film crew to be somewhere out of sight.

    1. no-one in particular

      Re: This has awesome potential

      > I do suggest that 360 degrees of view isn't necessary. 270 or so would let you look around while keeping your attention on The Good Stuff. Also allow the film crew to be somewhere out of sight.

      And if we're talking about sitting in a cinema, just far round can you crane your neck without getting very uncomfortable or banging into the people all around?

      (Yes, you could have some controls to pan aorund without moving your head but wouldn't that remove the feeling of "being there"?)

  15. User McUser
    Boffin

    Spoiler Alert: You Won't

    As for when we will all be attending the local multiplex and putting on our headsets, well, that is still some distance away.

    I don't think that this will ever happen, at least not on any large scale. You might see a few VR movie parlors open up here and there but these will not last very long IMHO. Why would I bother to go to out to a public space full of other people just to put on a headset that completely isolates me from said space and people?

    It's sort of the point of VR that you get to go somewhere without actually going anywhere.

  16. GX5000

    True but alas

    I agree VR will fail at Film for the next little while but then again we have a society that thinks the World revolves around them so all new movies of the future will star YOU so VR will work out, just need old togers like me to signoff.

  17. WereWoof

    many years ago at Disneworld in florida we always made this a must see:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle-Vision_360%C2%B0

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