THE FUTURE OF DOCUMENTARY – Start of my research
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY :
1. Five Groundbreaking ways to tell Stories in the Future of Filmmaking
Published by Liz Nord on nofilmschool.com on April, 26th 2016.
This article discusses the insight from the edge of modern storytelling. The reading also gives us and insight into the new and exciting world of Virtual Reality today and its relations with filmmaking and experimental storytelling. Liz Nord breaks new ways of Storytelling in the Future of Filmmaking in 5 categories :
- Let your narratives collide
“experimental filmmaker Guy Maddin invites small audiences to collaboratively choose thumbnails on a touch-screen light table, thereby producing a sequence of scenes that would then screen for them as a one-time-only viewing experience.”
- Create situations instead of scenes
“As the director in VR, part of your role is to create situations, not just a sequence of actions. And it’s not only the director’s role that is different: in the script, the place changes rather than the action, and ultimately the audience is the one taking the hero’s journey, even if they are not the protagonist.“
- Think outside the frame
The VR and the framing is completely new for the audience and I find this part so interesting. Principal Filmmaker for VR at Google Jessica Brillhart especially talks about how with spatial audio in the video, it is now possible to trigger the audience and draw their attention on something specific.
“In thinking outside the frame, you can get audiences to see what you want them to see by guessing where they will look and then using that to send them to another space or scene. This opens up possibilities to use traditional editing theory in new ways.”
- You can still D.I.Y. it
“The original 360 video was captured for scientific research about dolphin communication and intelligence, but VR turned out to be the best way to engage audiences beyond the scientific community.”
- Your location can be part of the story
“Imagine if audiences could physically step into your set, and by touching different items on the wall, or sitting on certain pieces of furniture, different parts of your story would be revealed to them. That future is here.”
The Tribeca Film Festival’s Hub is apparently the place to be when it comes to Virtual Reality. This reading also reveals one of the many and diverse films lined up at the Festival, including a documentary about solitary confinement.
In addition to this reading, at the Melbourne International Film Festival they are for the first time this year screening 360 degree short films with the Virtual Reality experience. Michael Beets directed one of the films screened at the Festival with the new VR experience, entitled Jafri. We are meeting with the Director on Wednesday afternoon after class to discuss it in more details.
2. All about VR at MIFF
Published on miff.com.au on August, 2nd 2016
This article is from the MIFF Official website and presents for the first time as part of the 65th MIFF, a Virtual Reality Program, offering a unique experience for the audience to explore and fully immerse themselves into a new exciting world!
In the article also, Steve Spangaro (owner of Worldview) agrees to be interviewed for the Festival and talks about VR but also raises the question whatever VR contents can be described as a film or more as an immersion or experience. He says “At what what point an immersive experience actually becomes a ‘film’ is one of the many questions being discussed as cinema lovers start looking at VR. In cinema, a director might take a series of shots or even a whole movie to build an atmosphere. It’s cumulative. But one shot in VR conveys a location and everything that might potentially come with being an observer at that point in space and time. So in VR there’s often more opportunity to let a single shot carry narrative.”
It seems VR offers more scope and it also considered ‘slow cinema’ because we eventually filming scenes back towards to the pace at which we naturally experience the world.
Jafri is Michael Beets’ VR short film and it explores the story of an African-Australian man as he guides us through his daily life and the intimate moments that have shaped his views on the world and himself. This short film explores the man’s fight with racism as well as dealing with the latest documentary technology, Virtual Reality.
My group and I met up with the Director in his studio to ask him about his film, but also about the Future of Filmmaking and how he sees it changing. Using VR for the first time in a film, Michael Beets was a young dynamic filmmaker, and inspired us a for our future research and projects.
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