Filmmaking / Directing : 360 vr filmmaking is here by Rick James

I don't think it'll destroy theatrical movie-going. Ordinary 3D didn't - it was, and still is, pretty much just a gimmick. I played the clip but it wouldn't let me move the mouse or camera angle, so would suggest it's got some way to go. :-)

I'm not sure why it didn't work on your computer or did you use a phone or tablet? If so that would explain the problem, they don't have enough processing power to do this and they don't have the software installed. This type of exhibit requires a robust set of i7 processors and a very fast video card. It's going to happen, just a little more time for the tech and the viewer to come together. Are you familiar with the Microsoft Hololens? https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us They're selling the beta sets right now and people are buying them as fast as they can produce them. The problem is, there will always be people who are stuck in the present. They can't see any further than today, Star Trek was made before the moon walk. It predicted big screen tv, cell phones, advanced scanning equipment, ships the size of small cities controlled by computers. palm sized computers and they said then, impossible. See any of that now? Anything that we can imagine, we can build. Lights that appeared by flipping a switch, horseless carriages, moving faster than the speed of a horse, flying, communicating over vast distances through a copper wire, all considered impossible or a novelty then. Just a gimmick they said, every piece of technology today was unbelievable 50, 100 years ago. Just think of what you won't believe tomorrow.

I still feel that there might be so much information lost with VR, unless you write some conditional delays. I trust the eye of the director and his or her vision. I guess I'm fine with them telling me what to look at. :)

I understand your concerns Tomasz, but VR is already in use in may ways. Gaming will be the biggest for now, but as it grows, it will become the accepted way of visual viewing. And as far as allowing the director to choice your point of view, that is the point of VR, you are the director, you choice your own point of view. As a filmmaker, I always have to consider which pov do I want the viewer to focus on. It has been done this way since man first picked up a stick and draw lines in the sand or chalk on a cave wall. The idea of VR and the VRU (virtual reality user) is that you don't lose any information, all of it is there, just turn your head as you would walking down a street and see everything. Imagine watching a movie, except your not simply watching it, you're in it, interacting with it. A character is talking directly to you and you can choose either to look at him or the girl in the red dress passing in the opposite direction. Perhaps that shady looking guy in the shadows needs more of your attention. Do you see the difference? I'm looking forward to making films for VRU's, it will be challenging and herald a new age for the business.

Hi Ric, thanks for follow up. I absolutely understand how VR works. It doesn't change the fact that there are some user experience flaws in it as far as films go. Games and non-scripted entertainment is one thing, but if you're looking at the guy creeping in the shadows you might be missing something else that is vital to the plot. Don't get me wrong, I would love to experience a scripted film in VR at least once, but if I'm being frank, I don't see this happening on a large scale.

I respect your opinion, I say give it a few more years.

Oh, of course. I'm not here to stop any progress. :) I'm pro invention and pro technology. I was also not convinced with the chip credit cards (we used the smart chip technology back in the 90's in the U.S. Navy). Who knows, I might have been wrong.

VR is a thing it's just not a big a thing as you might think. Gaming Huge! Simulation , pretty big, Training and enterprise very big also, experiential media possibly, but entertainment is currently dead last, and will probably remain so for quite a while. Short project media will fare the best but anything long format is going to do poorly. There are so many things to overcome, if there is no frame there is no story. Weight of the device, cost, which will get better as we go along, basic tenets of story need to evolve to fit this technology, or rather we need to adjust ourselves to fit telling stories in this format. Interactive content has never had a better chance than now to begin to take off, but this is a different beast than cinematic narrative storytelling. I haven't mentioned the collective experience of going to the cinema which still holds great power. One can certainly have a group experience in VR however it is a lot more akin to gaming or any other online groups experience, fairly vacuous. VR is going to be a huge market but it is "another" thing not a replacement thing. You should probably adjust your thinking more in this kind of direction, rather than "the greatest thing that ever happened," or "all movies are going to made this way in the near future." We are going to create new things this way, no real reason to recreate what we have already been doing.

There have been many claims that (fill in the blank) will destroy theatrical movie going. Why does one way to tell a story have to "destroy" another? Remember when it was said that free TV was going to destroy movie theaters? That was 50 years ago. Theaters survived. Remember when the Compact Disc was going to destroy vinyl records? VR is a wonderful tool. Does it need to "destroy theatrical movie going" in order to succeed?

Hay guys are you gamers? I'm heavy into gaming and what you can't imagine is already happening in that genre. Before VR, everyone was connected through their computer. They use their headsets to talk to each other and the others can be anywhere on the planet. Now we add the VR unit and you are now immersed into the virtual world. Technically, games are written the same way as a film script except it's not linear. A game script includes all the possible outcomes that can happen when you have to choose, I don't know what they call it, I call it a tree script. You're already playing a movie in real time with all the elements of a story except you're controlling the out come. That's way this will catch on, the tech is only one step away from virtual films. One more thing, encase you're not aware, the film industry is struggling and losing ground. TV sales are falling, people really like watching their mobile devices. I ask you, why watch a movie on a 2D screen, locked into a linear story line when I can enjoy the freedom of a 3D world with many possibilities? Which do you think today's and tomorrow's consumers will pick? VR will be the nail in the theatrical coffin.

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Hi People of VR ) Sure that among the pioneers of VR, there are those who understand the essence of VR movie production approaches. I have not found the answers to the following questions: 1. Until now, I have met only short VR films among which the most documentary or amateur. Maximum length up to 10 minutes. What do you think of a reason not to produce feature films up to 1 or 2 hours length? 2. In your opinion, how will feel movie star in VR movie? The viewer can not look in their direction, or to divert attention to another actor? Does the infringe upon whether such an approach of their starry dignity and inflated self-assessment? Appreciate your comments )))

Nice questions. The answer to your first question is, investors are not convinced that the technology will reap a hefty return. Also there isn't enough VR user's online yet to justify the expense. And, the naysayers, continue to doubt the new technology (as usual). When it becomes mainstream, then there will be opportunity for major productions. To answer the second question, this already happens in video games, the user already has the option to look were ever they chose. So if a named actor is willing to lend his or her talents to a VR production, it is already understood that the VR user's freedom to choose is the norm. Anyone who doesn't like it, won't do the project anyway. Don't worry about it.

Hello Ric, Thank you for comments )) Here is latest news about feature-length virtual reality film (maybe you knew that) http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-jesus-christ-virtual-realit... I am rally happy for this trending ))) The new environment dictates the rules. Perhaps soon, the stars will be forced to agree with his occasional participation in VR cinema. Nevertheless, the experience can be very effective, for example, if the star will appeal to the audience and offer a walk on the streets of Colorado. By the way, is there growing something aside from cactus? ))) Did you hear something about VR quality resolution explanation? I watched some shorts 360 video on youtube declared as the 4k, but its looks as low resolution? Did you check via Oculus or HTC? Is that mean 4k divided into 4 side? Some experts says to keep high quality production should be made in 16k… In this case, what the file size would be and how to distribute it? The buyer will be to download it a week?

I'm very much into gaming and I hate VR. I just don't like it.... it's like the worst bits of shakey cam, and I'm not always sure what the story wants me to be looking at. IE: There's cool shit happening, but I can't focus on the main character and what they're doing because I'm too distracted at all the crap happening around me.

VR screenwriter = screenwriter + orchestra conductor + air traffic controller. It's complicated, but very exciting )))

Hay Eric, I'm a hard cord gamer, been one since Pong. I don't know what types of games you're talking about, all full 360 view games do more than just go straight ahead. I play them and that's what makes them so much fun. Sadly it really doesn't matter that you hate real life viewing, whether it's a game or a film, it will happen. Today's kids are tomorrows consumers and they have already embraced the new tech. By the way Holofilmmaking and visorless VR's are already becoming old school, everyone in many countries are making their own 3D holoprojectors and VR films to play on them. This thing has caught on so fast and big that there is an industry for it. You are so behind the times. These are just two examples of visorless VR's or holographic projectors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t0cOYvOy4M And what till you see this full sized holoprojector. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur0IvUxT4a8