Filmmaking / Directing : The Future of Film Shoots? by Brandon Plantz

Interesting read, but I don't see that VR etc is going to change the way "films" are made. It's it's own thing and in my direct experience takes MORE personnel, not less. The article is heavily based on the Unity/VR/3D animation world which frankly is a very different skill set and very different presentation than most filmmakers (or audiences) are interested in. It is it's OWN thing, and while it overlaps with narrative film, it is a separate space in both production and market. So I don't think the articles observations are necessarily true. The idea that there is about to be a tremendous revolution in filmmaking has been around since... pretty much the beginning of film, and with every technological advance. While the tools are getting cheaper, the skills sets for quality content are and will always remain far too broad for tiny film crews to do well overall. And then there is the distribution environment which doesn't reward dull or cliche or even good and fantastic if the filmmaker is not hooked into it properly. I liken the rise in animation, VR and other technical items to the similar changes which the music industry underwent 20 years ago - and which many will say destroyed much of quality and variety of available (through mainstream) music as industry sought (and failed) to rationalize distribution and maximize profits. Technical advances which make things easier for the filmmaker by end-running some of the skills of production necessarily reduce the variability of the product. By definition. In other words, the reliance on these devices after a very, very short time, tend to produce the same look, quality, result and become production cliches. Once again, the only real thing is the creativity of the filmmaker, writer, actors, director, DP and all the many creative humans which work on a presentation. That cannot be altered.