Thursday, October 22, 2015

Virtual Reality Film Festival – The Future of Cinema!!



 
Few days back we experienced a new genre of cinema. A virtual reality version where we became part of the movie and experienced things by getting into the movie, moving and becoming part of the set of the movie by the direction of our gaze! Yes, it was a strange immersive experience and very futuristic.

Kaleidoscope VR Film Festival, was a 10-city tour which showcased virtual reality (VR) filmmaking, featuring virtual reality films made by independent artists. The Festival came to Austin on Oct 14, 2015 and hosted at Brazos Hall in Downtown Austin.

The event presented by Vrideo, a company for VR films featured demos from top VR filmmakers and industry members. Audiences had the chance to experience these films on Samsungs Gear VR equipment , in addition to Oculus VR headsets.

The VR Film festival was a converging of art and technology with both eclectic, artsy, and techie audiences. It’s not the typical movie going experience where everyone watches the movie on a big theatre screen. Here it was people lined up at different stations which was showing different short films while the audience queued up for their turn to sit down and slip on Gear VR equipment and headsets and become part of the movie!

There were many films featured of which we saw the few listed below. Our favorite being The Night Café and Kurios.  Getting into Van Goghs painting and walking around ‘The Night Café was exhilarating and a little dizzy. In ‘Kurios’ we get to watch Cirque du Soliel which is fascinating on its own, but imagine you becoming part of the stage with the artists performing just  for you!

Now we have to see how the medium of   virtual reality which has already grasped the gaming audiences, will get embraced in Hollywood and other  film industries and change the future of cinematic experience.





THE NIGHT CAFÉ
DIR. MAC CAULEY
US  |  3 Mins  |  Real-Time Experience

THE NIGHT CAFÉ is an immersive VR environment that allows you to explore the world of Vincent van Gogh first hand. Take a moment to enjoy his iconic sunflowers in 3 dimensions or walk around the chair he painted in his bedroom to see it from another angle. Step into the vivid colors straight from his palette.


KURIOS
DIR. MICHEL LAPRISE, FÉLIX LAJEUNESSE & PAUL RAPHAËL
CAN|  9:57 Mins  |  Live-Action 360 Video

Step on stage and immerse yourself Inside The Box of Kurios - Cabinet of Curiosities from Cirque du Soleil! A mysterious and fascinating realm that disorients your senses and challenges your perceptions, leaving you to wonder: “is it real, or just a figment of my imagination?”


WELCOME TO ALEPPO
DIR. CHRISTIAN STEPHEN
US  |  2:45 Mins  |  Live-Action 360 Video

A moving VR documentary by war journalist Christian Stephen that transports the viewer to Aleppo, Syria, an ancient city that is now one of the most dangerous war zones on earth. Produced by RYOT News



TANA PURA
DIR. MIKE TUCKER
US  |  3 Min  |  Real-Time Animation

What is it like to die? That is the question at the heart of Tana Pura, an audio-visual exploration of the moments following death and the soul's transition into the afterlife. With haunting music composed by Jonny Greenwood, Tana Pura draws inspiration from The Tibetan Book of the Dead and The Psychedelic Experience.

THE NEPAL QUAKE PROJET
DIR. DAVID DARG
US  |  4 Mins  |  Live-Action 360 Video

Narrated by Susan Sarandon, THE NEPAL QUAKE PROJECT uses Virtual Reality technology to immerse viewers in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. The film not only marks the first in natural disaster VR, but it represents the future of news and action. Produced by RYOT News.

WITNESS 360: 7/7
DIR. DARREN EMERSON
UK  |  13 Mins  |  Live-Action 360 Video

On the 7th July 2005 Jacqui Putnam stepped on to a Circle Line train in London on her way to work; a journey she had taken many times before.  At 08:50am Mohammad Sidique Khan would detonate a bomb in the carriage next to hers.  This is the story of her day, the immediate aftermath of the explosion and her road to recovery.  The film combines personal testimony, reconstruction, and abstract imagery to take the viewer on a powerful multi-sensory journey into the heart of one survivor’s extraordinary story.


THE ARCHER
DIR. JESSICA KANTOR
US  |  1:30 Mins  |  Live-Action 360 Video

A man visits a female archer, and chaos ensues. Created by Jessica Kantor, Matt Sundin, and Henrik Christoffersson.


LoVR
DIR. AARON BRADBURY
UK  |  5:20 Mins  |  Pre-Rendered 360 Animation

More than 100000 chemical reactions happen in your brain every second. So what about the moment you saw the girl of your dreams, and she saw you? If we could capture those few seconds what would the data look like? LOVR is a document of this moment. A story of love, told through neural activity captured over 4 seconds. As chemicals are released and areas of the brain activated, a form of poetry is revealed within the data. The heart beats, the iris dilates and time stands still as two lovers see each other for the first time.

UPLIFT
DIR. LEE BLEDSOE
US  |  2:30 Mins  |  Live-Action 360 Video

Uplift tells the story we've all wonder about. What happens to a balloon when it floats away, what does it see, and where does it go? We developed Uplift to show off our skills and technology of our aerial 360 degree capture system the EyeFly.

SURGE
DIR. ARJAN VAN MEERTEN
Netherlands  |  3:34 Mins  |  Real-Time Animation

Virtual reality music video SURGE is an abstract meditation on the evolutionary process and its relentless march towards complexity. Built with Unreal by artist Arjan van Meerten,  Surge was produced over the course of a year with Arjan creating all of the music, animation and code himself. With thousands of downloads, Surge is currently the highest rated experience on Oculus Share. 

·    WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2015
·    8:00PM  11:00PM
·    BRAZOS HALL204 EAST 4TH STREETAUSTIN, TEXAS 78701 

VR FILM PROGRAM:
BRIGHT SHADOWS  •  BUTTS  •  COLOSSE  • DMZ: MEMORIES OF NO MAN'S LAND  •  DER GROSSE GOTTLIEB  •  LOVR  •  SIGHTLINE: THE CHAIR  •  SURGE  •  TANA PURA  •  THE ARCHER  •  THE LAST MOUNTAIN  •  THE NEPAL QUAKE PROJECT  •  THE NIGHT CAFÉ  •  WAY TO GO  •  WELCOME TO ALEPPO  •  WITNESS 360: 7/7


1 comment:

simwave.ca said...

Great blog full of interesting stuff that more useful to all blogger. Thanks

Virtual reality Canada