documentary and current affairs storytelling using 360 video – the possibilities and the pitfalls
TRANSCRIPT
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Documentary and current affairs storytelling using 360 video – the possibilities and the pitfalls.
Zillah Watson, Peter Boyd Maclean
With R&D andBBC Connected Studio
NEWS LABS BBC 2015
VR documentary and current affairs storytelling using 360 footage
Zillah Watson Editor, BBC R&D
Peter Boyd Maclean Film-maker
NEWS LABS BBC 2015
Our first attempts at filming – “The fear of heights”
• Could we tell a story using 360 footage to enhance the experience?• How could we direct the viewer to the action?• Could we cut a sequence without fading to black?• Could we include a piece to camera and an interview (without cut-aways)?
http://www.bbcnewslabs.co.uk/2015/02/24/immersive-news-and-current-affairs
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Which stories will work best in 360?
Location – a sense of space, being able to look around, get the fuller picture
Presence – helping your audience understand the story better, and feel heightened sense of emotion/empathy
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But…
• Choosing your current affairs/documentary story… how much do you want to dwell on human misery
• Might presence be too much in some situations?
• Missing the action…how do you draw the audience’s attention to important things?
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Developing a new grammar of film-making
• Camera angles to evoke presence – feeling part of the picture• Perspectives - voyeur or part of the action?• Camera movements (sickness)• Disembodiment• Camera angles – chest height?• Close ups• Cutaways• Length of shots• Presenter/interviews• Montage
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Living the Dream – prototyping VR’s storytelling possibilities
In collaboration with Dr Peter Passmore, Computer Science Lecturer, Middlesex University
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Practical issues still being understood – filming and sound
• Where do you hide the crew/kit?
• Lighting
• Safety
• Recording sound
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Editing/post-production
• Laborious work flow
• File management
• Stitching is time consuming
• Editing on a flat screen for VR
• Editing 360 sound
But with enough post-production time you can achieve impressive results
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Technology is not quite ready…
• Camera systems are far from ideal• Video dynamic range: shots inevitably
contain very bright areas was well as dark• Frame rate:
• Capture: “at least 60fps” ??• Display: “at least 100fps”?
• Stereoscopic• Sound• Headsets• Head/body tracking• User interaction?
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Further viewing/reading
• VRSE app – for Android or IOS (Chris Milk films eg Clouds Over Sidra)• Jaunt demos• Google Cardboard/Occulus demos• Felix and Paul eg Cirque du Soleil (Samsung Gear demos)• Nonny de la Pena/Immersive Journalism
• Stanford VR Lab • How immersive is enough? A meta-analysis of the effect of immersive technology
on user presence. Cummings, J.J., Bailenson, J.N. (in press). Media Psychology.
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Thanks
www.BBCNewsLabs.co.uk
@BBC_News_Labs
With R&D andBBC Connected Studio