Can great, gimmick-less storytelling be achieved in virtual reality?
Two leading studios are paving the way for VR storytelling.
We currently sit on the brink of a new revolution in storytelling…and its cool as hell.
For movie fans, VRs rise to prominence has brought forth a veritable universe of possibilities.
We only do animation, says Fan of Baobabs credo.
We think its way better than live-action.
I think our philosophy is twofold, says Unseld.
We put ourselves up with the motto to inspire and educate.
With every narrative VR experience that we do, we want to try something completely new.
The second prong in OSSs mission benefits the art form at large.
We want to share the knowledge that we have.
We share things onlinewe share what weve learned, we share code, we share characters.
Through our university outreach…were trying to help kids learn how to tell stories in VR.
There are a lot of tech demos and theres this need to prove that VR is different.
Right now, a lot of stuff out there is really depressing, to be honest, says Fan.
There are, like, five films on Syria right now.
I get doing it, because the topics themselves matter.
Really, what we want to create is universally appealing stuff.
That niche content is great for early adopters, but we want to bring VR to the masses.
The way to do that is through storytelling.
Learning is a good way of putting it, says Unseld.
Constantly feeling like we have no idea and were figuring it out as we go is probably more accurate.
Its like trying to make films without films ever existing at all before you.
You just try and see what works.
His hypothesis is, in a dark room with a projector, you get to be completely passive.
Youre in the dark.
All you do is think about how the characters on screen are feeling.
But when you [play a] video game, you start thinking, Who am I?
What do I need to do next?
What do the game-makers want me to do?
It reveals a man behind the curtain, and youre no longer mesmerized by the experience.
Youre splitting your attention between what you oughta do and [connecting with] the characters.
Eventually, Darnell hit a breakthrough while working onInvasion!.
Eric wanted to experiment, and learned a lot of techniques, Fan recalls.
We saw people have a go at play with the bunny, play fetch and stuff.
The team then figured out a way to make the connection to the friendly fuzzball even more immediate.
The bunny hides behind you.
People were surprised at how much they cared about this bunny.
They felt the need to protect her.
This extraordinary sense of culpability is just one innovation makes VR unique.
We can scrub through the animation, mark [things off].
Were moving things around in VR together so that we can work inside [the scene].
Its kinda freaky, and its really, really cool.
Its challenging because you dont get to control composition, says Fan.
Some people think you cant do traditional storytelling in VR, but we believe you absolutely can.
Its about having content thats interesting enough to get people to look where you want them to look.
There are these islands on the ice, says Fan.
Theyre purposefully put there because they create natural frames in the image.
CUTS OF DOOM!
When Unseld started working with VR, he quickly discovered that many traditional filmic tools are inapplicable in VR.
Our brains are so used to thinking in the frame of how film works, says Unseld.
But, astoundingly, cutting is one tool that actually translates quite well to VR.
In the early days of cinema, when that train came out, people hopped out of their seats.
Look what cinema has become.
Theyre saying the same things about VR that they did about cinema.
People say cuts dont work, and maybe now you think its a little jarring.
I do think it takes time, but were fine with graduating people into that.
Unseld, whos experimented with cutting extensively, agrees.
Its a tricky thing to figure out.
People originally thought it wouldnt work because, why would you suddenly be in a new place?
It could be confusing.
But the realization was that bad cuts dont work.
Bad cuts are really confusing.
Its about figuring out how good cuts work.
Its more about the key in of cut rather than the speed or number of them.
It doesnt matter if its [somewhere else] in the world.
Thats the kind of editing people are working on right now.
In a film, the close-up kind of rules supreme; much smaller things come across really well.
Compared to how real people behave, its a very active use of your body.
In VR, that feels really strange.
Toning it down even more is something actors will need to learn.
Its a new way to use your body to express emotions.
Thats going to be a learning curve as well.
Modes of narrative are also drastically changed in VR.
The protagonist in a movie is us; they are our way into that world, Unseld explains.
In VR, the protagonist is a separate person from us.
That kind of changes how slapstick comedy works, like when someone falls on their face.
I laugh at Charlie Chaplin because, on some level, I associate myself with [him].
Its like it happened to me, so I can laugh at it.
In VR, that relationship to the protagonist is different; its clearly a different person.
So the way I would react to someone else falling on their face is with worry rather than laughter.
The tallest hurdle is obvious.
Besides the hardware being big, its the price point, says Fan.
But, according to Fan, the more pressing issue involves capturing the attention of the casual consumer.
The thing I care about is the audience and if I can fit into their lives.
People who play casual games dont consider themselves gamers.
Its a few seconds in a Starbucks line, pushing a few things around.
Its about minimal effort.
Needing to sit in front of a computer and devote thirty hours to this game is not mass market.
Ours was the most universally appealing content.
We were really excited.
Unseld agrees that getting interesting, quality stories into the hands of a wide variety of audiences is key.
Its about creating wonderful experiences and making things that people want to see.
Thats the biggest challenge we at Story Studio have set out for ourselves.
Its a real issue, though Unselds found its one thats overcome with experience.
I think once someone has seen four to six VR experiences, theyre over the fact that its VR.
Its great because then we can start talking about telling different kinds of stories.
We can actually start to move into not just talking about the medium but talking about individual experiences.
For a trailblazer like Unseld, the joy of VR is that it makes the old feel new again.
I like a sense of wonder and amazement, he says with warmth in his voice.
Its so hard to get that sense in a movie nowadays.
People are so jaded and have seen everything.
Having that ability back is incredible.
Seeing peoples reactions when they put the headset on is beautiful.
HenryandInvasion!are out now.
Image Credits:
Invasion!
courtesy of Baobob Studios
Henry courtesy of Oculus Story Studio
