Are VR and AR the future of film?

We’ve seen the film industry go from black and white photos to vivid 3D films, but what’s next?

If you’ve ever used google maps’ street view, taken a selfie, or scanned a QR code, you’ve used AR, and you’ve probably already heard of virtual reality. But what exactly is this technology and what does it have to do with film? 🎥

What are VR and AR?

Virtual and Augmented Reality are two types of artificial reality. VR is simple, it shows you an image, then uses 3D displays and other technology to track your head and eye movements to show you the corresponding images, making it seem like the world the images show is all around you.

On the other hand, AR is when digital information is overlaid onto the real world through a camera lens, basically combining digital images and the physical world. AR pastes CGI objects onto live video feed from your camera, making it look like these objects are part of the physical world. Chances are, you’ve used this technology. Whether you’re scanning a QR code or using a snapchat filter, AR is everywhere.

There are so many applications for AR and VR, film is just one of them.

The display on Tony Stark’s suit in Iron Man is an example of augmented reality

What does this tech have to do with filmmaking? 🤨

Do you remember when 3D movies came out? Probably not, but like how 2D movies turned into 3D movies, 3D movies are now becoming fully immersive VR movies.

Imagine watching your favorite movie. Awesome right? Now imagine being inside of that movie, seeing your favorite characters all around you, even being a character yourself!

3D movies let you see objects come out of the screen, but VR movies let you go into them. Because VR stimulates sight, hearing and touch, it allows you to fully immerse yourself in a virtual world.

With the invention and commercialization of VR, the opportunity to create films in virtual realities was introduced. VR films give filmmakers the ability to fully immerse the audience into a story. It makes the audience feel like they are looking at a real scene instead of a recording. A good film should do this anyway, but VR lets us go one step further 😁

The point of films is to make people feel something, to bring the audience closer to the story and VR films let us bring the audience the closest yet.

In 2016, Cannes film fest became the first film festival to screen VR short films. They even had an area dedicated to VR!

VR also gives us an opportunity to combine video games and movies. VR games already use cinematic language when creating the plots for games, so why not take it a step further and turn it into an interactive movie? You know those choose your own ending books? This is like a movie version.

Right now, interaction in movies is handled by assigning the audience a character, but VR movies are headed in an even more interactive direction.

AR in film 🎥

The future of AR in film isn’t so much in storytelling, but in production. AR allows you to see digital objects in real spaces through a phone camera and it’s really useful for set design and visual effects.

• AR can be used to help set designers see what objects may or may not work with a set.

Also, when actors don’t film on location or on a set, they have to act in front of a green screen. All everyone sees is a green screen. Directors, cinematographers, and actors all have to use their imagination to imagine the location around them.

• By using AR, directors and actors can look through their phone and see what’s going to be where the green screen is. This can help them organize scenes better and the actors can act with more authenticity, since they have a better idea of what’s around them.
• AR can also be used in films for visual effects and CGI. In Duncan Walker’s short film, NEST, he used ARKit (a program created by Apple to simplify building AR) to import CGI characters to his phone and then filmed them in real life through his phone camera.

James Cameron also used AR technology when he directed Avatar in 2009.

James Cameron filming Avatar

Challenges ☹️

Although AR and VR can be used for some really cool things, there are definitely some challenges.

• VR movies have to be filmed in 360 degree video and are really hard to film
• They also cost a lot to make
• The audience’s attention isn’t focused on one particular space. -in a VR environment, there is no screen to look at, if a scene is happening behind you and you aren’t looking, you’ll miss it.
• Some people get a sense of vertigo when in a VR environment
• It’s very tiring to have to walk around for two hours to watch a movie
• Cuts and transitions between scenes don’t exist in VR
• VR films have to be very high quality in order to make the environment realistic

These challenges mean it may take longer for VR films to be available to the public, but they are definitely coming.😁

AR and VR have made big changes in the filmmaking industry. VR has helped us bridge the gap between seeing and experiencing and though it has a ways to go, this technology will one day replace the films we see today.