Software
360 VR Film
Company
WithIN
Timing
4 minutes
Narration
This is a song by U2, you begin in a circle with the band singing around you in a stadium, then the environment starts to blur and other people from around the world begin to sing. The sound is also mapped, so you hear the change in instruments, and grouping of people, i.e. a mashup of a boy in India and a woman in Paris. The people fade in and out with different “cut” points. At times, we are entirely in the new location, but something starts to fade and a new singer appears.
Subtitles
There are no subtitles, but when a new singer/group comes into the frame, in bold white text it says the location of the group in front of the singer. It is effective.
Cinematography
360 film, not interactive. The quality is low res., but it isn’t an issue, because it more about the 3D sound and the blurring of the different locations which is conceptually interesting as it is musically.
Framing and Point of View
The language is the same, you are in the middle of a group, someone is directly in front, to your left and to your right and someone usually behind (but mostly in your 180 view). People and locations change, but their distance to the camera and location in your view is mostly consistent. They are all singing directly to you.
Color Palette
Real life film footage
Composition
A cube like setup (singers on each face of the cube, you are in the middle of it)
Looking Around
The story happens all around as the singers change, you are constantly turning to see the new people, new locations. This is aided by sound.
Storytelling
It was a linear story, no opportunity to fast forward, rewind or change your pace/location in the story. This was ok, I was not bothered by the lack of interaction as it was a song.
Sound
Sound played a key role in the experience. The different instruments that took over the melody each time the location changed provided a nice cultural appropriational touch to it. The 3D sound also aided in knowing where to look, what was blurring away and what was coming into focus.
EEL VR Storytelling Research 