It was better than good, it was a great talk.

For our one and only class this week, we had a guest lecture with screenwriter, Catherine McMullen.

(NB: This blog post may be super vague when discussing certain topics due to privacy reasons.)

She was able to provide us with one of her works which was a virtual reality (VR) script. This was an insightful read for me as I have never read a VR script before, or anything similar such as a gaming script. But with that being said, I was still fairly quick to recognise the differences of a VR script from a film script, and it was also interesting to hear Catherine talk about these differences and the factors she had to consider when writing for VR.

The thing with virtual reality is that you, the audience, are part of that world and you are able to interact within it. And just like video games, your actions would incite various reactions in that virtual world. So her script being written in second-person made sense. Something thing to note, though, is how interactivity comes into play in a VR script. Since the development of the story in the virtual world is affected by your decisions, the script offers options for you to choose.

Furthermore, it paints a really broad picture of the environment. As in, she had to consider what is happening in every aspect of the main character’s (you) peripheral vision. So every way you turn, something is happening and it is detailed in the script even if you don’t necessarily look at them.

On a different note, Catherine also went on to share her journey as a screenwriter and offered us some advice. I admire people who work hard for what they want and take risks to get there. And she did just that to get to where she is. I also admire how she took so many opportunities and gained experience in other areas of production, which did help her a lot when it came to bringing her script come to life.