REQUIRED DEVELOPMENT WORK
REVIEW DOCUMENT:
“Friend like Me” 360° Performance – ALADDIN in Broadway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Q3fkwq7Pw
The camera movements in this piece were very subtle and stable. Although they didn’t make it more immersive and, in my opinion, weren’t really needed. For my own future VR work, I would try to make the camera movement more justified and purposeful but could use this piece as inspiration of how to pull off camera movement without it being sickening.
“Isle of Dogs Behind the Scenes (in Virtual Reality)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqXC46b1uUg
This piece combines multiple filmmaking technologies to create one seamless behind the scenes look at the making of the film. It combines virtual reality, time lapse, stop motion and computer-generated imagery. Experimenting with multiple filmmaking techniques together is very useful for my own future VR work as it often takes many different technologies and techniques to create one finished and polished piece of film.
“The Meg: Submersive VR Experience”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IZK1k1elBU
The suspense building in this piece is exhilarating and creates a very emotional response from the viewer. It places the viewer in a diving mask in shark infested waters which blurs the line between the character and the viewer as the viewer feels as if they are the character. Our group experimented with this idea in our assignment, however I think going forward, more emotionally heightened narratives and direct dialogue to camera would create a stronger bond between viewer and character.
360 FILMMAKING TIPS:
- Put a lot of thought into the set, because the entire set is going to be seen.
- Because the entire set is going to be seen, the crew can’t hide behind the camera. So, find a room or something that obstructs the crew from being seen by the camera.
- Because the crew will be seen, most of the equipment will also be seen which includes lighting. So, try and film in a location with lots of natural light.
- Try not to move camera, VR can already be quite disorientating. Camera movement only makes it more disorientating unless they are very smooth movements.
- Try to have a reason/purpose for a cut because fast cuts make VR viewing even more disorientating.
- Stand the correct distance away. Too close and you’re out of proportion. Too far, and you can’t be seen.
- Test shots in the VR headset especially for video quality, but also for actor’s distance from camera, performances, audio, how it will look in VR and how immersive it is.
- Rehearse scenes because they tend to be longer than normal filmmaking.
- Boom mics will be seen by the camera. Either record audio with the inbuilt camera microphone or try and hide lapels or other audio recorders.
- VR is a new frontier for filmmaking, try and make the most of it.
PREPRODUCTION:
This stage was very stressful for our group as the idea we came up with seemed very ambitious. At the start of the assignment when we settled on creating a zombie musical in virtual reality (the world’s first we would later come to realise), we were full of confidence and excitement. However, a few weeks had passed where we didn’t really have a clear understanding of what we wanted to achieve. Details like whether we should write lyrics, have hand to hand combat, getting actors and a filming location were still up in the air later into the process than we would have liked. This became very apparent during our class presentation pitch where we realised, we weren’t as close to completion as some of the other groups were. This was a good lesson in time management as a group and that an organised preproduction makes filming and postproduction easier. This made us panic and try to think of other ideas we could quickly shoot as our original shoot date was fast approaching. We eventually decided after much deliberation to pursue with our original idea and once tasks like writing the script, choreographing dances and finding a location were getting completed, our original ambitious idea seemed achievable. However, we still had difficulties with getting actors. We initially sourced actors through Star Now. 18 applied and they were all offered roles expecting some would drop out. Unfortunately, all 18 dropped out meaning the night before we had to source friends and other actors to be in it. Luckily though we were able to get six actors together to play the zombies. We later realised that six zombies suited the piece more and made it easier to direct. This taught us to run with the punches and adapt on the fly. After all the trials and tribulations of achieving our piece I’ve learnt that not every shoot is going to be easy to pull off and often the more difficult it is to achieve the bigger the sense of achievement is.
TEST SCREENINGS REFLECTION:
We showed a rough cut of the film in class to other students. The other students seemed to enjoy the film and its comedic elements. Especially the middle dance battle scene, which confirmed to us that the idea was worth pursuing. Due to our struggles with preproduction about whether we should abandon the idea all together, this taught me a valuable lesson that ideas shouldn’t be discredited because they seem difficult to pull off. Pursuing the idea until its completion proved worth it once we saw the reactions of the other students. Also being able to complete an idea that seemed difficult made it extra satisfying to see it completed and gave us an extra sense of accomplishment.
300 WORD REFLECTION:
Due to the setbacks during preproduction, specifically with our Star Now actors dropping out, production was mainly done on the fly with friends we could source the night before and on the day. Because it was late notice for most of the actor’s they had to learn the dance before shooting, in between getting their make up done. Luckily though one of the actors was studying musical theatre and had strong dancing skills meaning they were able to help the others with the routine. If the actors had more time, they would have been able to rehearse longer and know it better, but with the time they had they managed to do a really good job with the dance. In my future productions, sourcing actors won’t be left as late ensuring everything and everyone is organised.
A phrase we found ourselves saying quite a few times during the entire production process was; “This is going better than expected”. Due to our ambitious idea and relatively delayed preproduction as well as the hurdles that kept getting in our way, we really didn’t have high hopes for the outcome for this project. However, we persevered through all our difficulties and in the end created a piece that was definitely “better than expected”. This taught me to not discredit an idea if it seems ambitious and to try and overcome the difficulties that come up along our way.
The most vital thing I learnt in this process is the importance of delegation when collaborating with my group. Although a lot of our project was completed with all group members present, we did find that when we delegated smaller tasks that don’t require all group members present we completed the project more efficiently than if we were to meet up to complete every little task together. Each group member simultaneously being able to work on a single smaller task that when together create the overall project, created a more efficient workflow. Tasks like writing the script, choreographing the dance and sourcing music were all delegated to individual members. The delegation skills gained from this project will help me in the future with collaborating with others both at university and in the professional industry.
FINAL FILM:
https://rmiteduau-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/r/personal/s3717707_student_rmit_edu_au/Documents/MAJOR%20XR%20WORK/rave%202%20grave.mp4?csf=1&e=k12ayB