Oculus Experience Link
Software
Unity and Unreal Engine
Company
Here Be Dragons
Timing
Film length 10 minutes
Narration
Narration is a voice over of the main character, we start behind her, she is in the distance and then the camera pans upward to be directly behind her, to become her for a moment and then she moves forward as she jumps back a couple meters to then follow her body in the film to different scenes. In the second scene, you start as her and then a few seconds in, you remain behind her. You follow her throughout the scenes, except the last one, where you pan in the scene in space until you see her. This is slightly confusing, becoming the main character/camera following, you are not sure of your role in this.
Subtitles
no subtitles
Story Arch
It is an experience, a taste of three scenes in the story of the movie. Clearly meant to heighten one’s curiosity of the film.
Cinematography
Incredible stylistic and use of the VR medium. The beginning starts in a glichy 3d space, which then becomes a skyline and there is a great use of shaders that go from transparent to vector. It is visually very interesting. In the first scene, large holograms of people are in the environment (including ones wearing oculus Rifts) which is pretty incredible (looks a bit like Blade Runner). The hyperscale people are probably real images, but because their shaders are hologramed/made 3d, they fit well in the CGI environment. Although you first see a fragmented/triangulated world, it becomes clear and then moves from stylised and flux to a clear image. It has a very sketchy vectorised look to it.
There are fadeouts and the camera pans in the 2nd scene moving in a straight line while the action happens all around. At the end of the scene, a portal appears and go inside, where you are surrounded by jellyfish, you pan to her figure once again.
Another huge feature is the slowing down of movement. By pressing a button, you can experience the “tea room” scene in slow and fast modes, like in the Matrix. This ability to play with time is great for the storytelling and for making it interactive without interrupting the narrative. It also uses VR to a better potential that something that is real or a film.
Perhaps what was most impressive was the shaders (use of transparent materials) on the character and on the jellyfish, who moved very realistically.
Framing
All full shots, mostly behind the main character.
Scale
Done in 1 : 1, you are with the environment and have a sense of size there.
Color Palette
The color palette is full, but art directed. The holgrams/transparent objects and gliches have a very interesting graphic to them. It was all in high contrast environments so I didn’t perceive high pixelation, but rather was impressed by the overall aesthetics.
Composition
Symmetry in both the rooms and movement (always directly forward in one line). The focal point is almost always directly ahead.
Point of View
User is a Bystander when in the space with the narrator and at times becomes the protagonist.
Looking Around
Most of the story happens directly in front of the user, in the fight scene, you look all around because it is happening everywhere
Storytelling
This is a fixed linear story. You cannot fast forward or rewind, so it is a bit rigid. You also have no perception of how long it will be so it is hard to gauge whether or not you have seen it or even if you want to continue watching it.
UI Intro
Well done 2D logo and UI for introduction. Large text instructing you to press a button and then another scene with a diagram of the controller and which buttons to press and why. There is no sound for this, nor do we have the title of the experience yet. After the intro scene, it glitches in black to show the film’s logo.
Sound
Sound played a key role in the experience. The soundtrack music began with the opening credits and the sound effects (explosion, characters yelling, etc.) all helped to make it much more immersive.
EEL VR Storytelling Research 