{"id":16,"date":"2016-12-16T02:45:41","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T02:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersroom.ca\/knotforsale\/2016\/12\/16\/some-thoughts-on-the-future-of-360-films\/"},"modified":"2016-12-16T03:31:54","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T03:31:54","slug":"some-thoughts-on-the-future-of-360-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersroom.ca\/knotforsale\/2016\/12\/16\/some-thoughts-on-the-future-of-360-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Thoughts on the Future of 360\u00b0 Films"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\tTweet<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

Over the course of this term, whenever I told people that I was working on a 360\u00b0 film, I got a variety of responses, varying from \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d to \u201cThat\u2019s cool!\u201d to the more serious \u201cDo you think 360\u00b0 is the future of filmmaking?\u201d<\/p>\n

The short answer to that last question is: I don\u2019t know. The long answer is something like this\u2026<\/p>\n

When I started Writing 420 in September, I\u2019d never even watched a 360\u00b0 film with a headset, let alone made a 360\u00b0 film. I immediately found the concept of working in 360\u00b0 appealing, though. While some people in the class were hesitant about virtual reality and would have rather worked on a flat film, I was eager to explore this new technology. I didn\u2019t know if it would turn out well. I was sure there would be less trial and error (and likely a better final result) if we worked on a traditional film, but the idea of 360\u00b0 filmmaking was exciting. I\u2019m intrigued by new technologies. I like exploring new mediums for the sake of exploring the medium, not necessarily because it\u2019s the easiest or even the best one.<\/p>\n

Then we began working on the script for the film, and I realized how little we as creators understand about this new medium. Coming up with a concept that not only works in 360\u00b0, but actively thrives in 360\u00b0, that ideally depends on 360\u00b0, is a daunting task. Did we achieve this? Maybe not. Maybe no one has achieved it yet. But we experimented, and with such a new medium, that\u2019s all we can do. After decades of flat filmmaking, it\u2019s hard to transfer what we know about visual storytelling to this new medium. It\u2019s difficult to tell a story when we can\u2019t tell the audience where to look. It\u2019s difficult to make something so new seem useful instead of gimmicky. And it\u2019s difficult to know how to use a medium to its full potential when we\u2019ve never seen it used to its full potential \u2013 we have no models to follow.<\/p>\n

After doing camera operation and editing on our 360\u00b0 film, I\u2019m more intrigued than ever about the future of this medium. At the moment, 360\u00b0 is mostly used for documentary and video games. Documentaries rely less on the filmmaking techniques that 360\u00b0 lacks: camera direction, close ups, cuts\u2026 Video games are made for the kind of immersion and viewer participation that 360\u00b0 provides. In fact, one could argue that 360\u00b0 films are forcibly bridging the gap between film and games: 360\u00b0 films demand viewer interaction (even if that interaction is just looking around) in a way that traditional films do not. Is the future of narrative 360\u00b0 a hybrid of gaming and filmmaking? Drawing the viewer in to participate in the story, the way video games already do? As 360\u00b0 films become more common, will we see less of a divide between what is considered a video game and what is considered a film? Or will 360\u00b0 filmmaking take a turn that we can\u2019t even imagine yet, carving out its own space as a medium apart from both films and games?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Natasha D\u2019Amours<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the course of this term, whenever I told people that I was working on a 360\u00b0 film, I got a variety of responses, varying from \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d to \u201cThat\u2019s cool!\u201d to the more serious \u201cDo you think 360\u00b0 is the future of filmmaking?\u201d The short answer to that last question is: I don\u2019t know. The long answer is something like this\u2026 When I started Writing 420 in September, I\u2019d never even watched a 360\u00b0 film with a headset, let alone made a 360\u00b0 film. I immediately found the concept of working in 360\u00b0 appealing, though. While some people in the class were hesitant about virtual reality and would have rather worked on a flat film, I was eager to explore this new technology. I didn\u2019t know if it would turn out well. I was sure there would be less trial and error (and likely a better final result) if\u2026<\/p>\n

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