By Nam Tran, Spring Li and Philip Trinh
An apathetic youth failing in her search for acceptance and serenity happens upon an online community, possibly holding the answers to her problems. Whilst engrossed by their welcoming nature, a particular user calls into question the communities true motives.
The initial brainstorming process began with the central concept of extended reality. Contemplating the amalgamation of synthetic realities and the real world, we directed our focus onto the growing issue of dependency on technology. In our rapidly developing contemporary world technology is slowly seeping into all aspects of life. The increased integration of technology extends both benefits and detrimental disadvantages. Thus, we intended to construct a re-imagined reality in which human connections and spirituality are eventually replaced and manipulated by an all-knowing artificial intelligence.
In the materialisation of our concept, we divided the narrative into three intertwined acts. The first segment providing context into the protagonist’s mundane and destructed life, the second segment featuring the reluctant encounter with the cult like online platform and finally the last segment leading into an ambiguous conclusion of whether Yume spiralled into technology’s utopian trap. A combination of augmented reality components completed in post-productions was also utilised to visualise the story world of our film.
Throughout the creative process, each member of our production team was encouraged to exercise resilience and flexibility in combatting numerous obstacles. In doing so, we comprehended new and more effective methods of communication and problem solving. We were also invited to contribute and unite our own distinctive styles in crafting a successful cinematic piece. In the completion of this film, our production team was provided with the opportunity to liberally explore the intriguing concepts and techniques involved in extended reality and further develop our skills in all aspects of filmmaking. This project ultimately set an adequate foundation for our future works in cinema.
