Testing Performance Genres in Social VR
Flashback to our Research!
Over the summer we ran a series of experiments with actors ranging from the dramatic style of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar to Improv comedy. We invited pairs of actors to work with our VR team. Pairs of actors brought in a well-rehearsed scene. Since we take the actors out of their familiar physical reality and into a completely new, virtual reality it was necessary the actors were well beyond memorization and already had a sense of the emotional beats of their scene.
Our first session was with actors Ellen Cheney and Jesse Tendler. Cheney and Tendler had joined us to rehearse a scene during our pre-test; so at this point they were familiar with the new communicative differences to perform in VR. Actor / Writer Ellen Cheney wrote contemporary scene. The premise was about two old friends who reconnect after a high school reunion and one has some shocking news to share.
Cheney wrote the scene with these elements in mind:
- contemporary in genre
- avoid any prolonged physical interaction between actors
- a moment of “revelation” where one actor reveals something to the other
First challenge:
A challenge we anticipated was the need for interacting with props. I began the day by running the scene with the actors the way we would run it regularly in a rehearsal (without headsets). This was important for me to observe how they wanted to related to each other. The actors mimed some drinks that they have in the first part of the scene. We hadn’t designed any specific props for this experiment and the scene required two glasses. At one point the actors pass a drink to each other. We looked quickly for a prop that felt suitable for this interaction.
A discovery:
A wonderful discovery was placing the actors in a new environment. What’s exciting about working within a social platform like High Fidelity is that it allows us to select from a wide array of locations. We moved them for a final test into a realistic Mad Men-style apartment with a fancy city view. Cheney had written the scene with this location in mind. The environment played a big part for these actors in their relating to the reality of the scene.
Taking it back to Shakespeare
Next we worked with actors Will Sturdivant and Jake Ford. Will had previously worked with my colleague David Gochfeld on a scene from Hamlet performed in VR.
Sturdivant and Ford chose to work with classical text, and prepared a scene between Brutus and Cassius in Julius Caesar (Act IV, Scene 3). This scene could not have been farther in style from the contemporary scene Cheney and Tendler performed; it runs the gamut of extreme emotions with the climax when Cassius’ offers up his own dagger and willingly exposes his chest to his dear friend Brutus.
“There is my dagger /
And here my naked breast; within, a heart /
Dearer than Pluto’s mine, richer than gold.”
–William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, IV, iii
The Backstory
Brutus and Cassius joined forces commanding troops to kill Julius Caesar. In this scene there are accusations of bribery, questions of morals and at the root of everything is the loyalty of their friendship. The scene concludes with Brutus revealing that his wife Portia has killed herself.
Avatars and Emotion
Finding the right avatars to communicate the emotional intensity of a scene is a real challenge right now. We ran actors Sturdivant and Ford through a series of avatar styles and the actors did an excellent job keeping their energy high through this very tense scene. We also tried changing the environment for the scene: beginning on a traditional stage and concluding on the stage. The take-away here is that the stage was best for these performers and the
Moving Through Centuries to Present-Day TV
We took a great pivot from Shakespeare and tested a scene from the acclaimed TV series “The Wire.” Actors Carl Hendrick Louis (Broadway: 1984, The Cherry Orchard) and Kareem Lucas (Black Is Beautiful But It Ain’t Always Pretty) brought the intensity to these scene.
The TV Scene Challenge
The greatest challenge for the actors in this scene is how reliant it is on physical contact and touch. The scene’s dialogue builds dramatically and it finishes with an aggressive fight that turns into choking. This is a great challenge to get right in VR as the avatars rarely make convincing contact with each other that would aid the imaginations of the actors as well as the audience.
A Few Discoveries
The Theater was the wrong environment for the TV scene. We didn’t spend much time on the virtual stage; it just felt like a mismatch for the text. I suggested to my team that instead of running the scene in the Theater, we run it instead in a more realistic environment; an apartment which might feel more intimate.
However, by the second time we ran the scene we knew the apartment environment was also wrong. We began hopping around the apartment to exterior environments. First a patio deck off the apartment; next a deck area; and finally an exposed rooftop. Surprisingly, this last environment we landed in, the rooftop felt the best to me and the actors agreed. I felt that the actors’ work resonated best in this fairly bare environment.
2D Discovery — VR Cinematography
My favorite revelation was that when we were documenting this scene with our virtual cameras, we tried a lot of camera setups. I found myself wanting to try camera moves and change angles and movement around the action; the same way a cinematographer would make creative decisions in the 2D world. When editing our documented takes together for research, I realized just how compelling this footage could be in 2D. The shots felt cinematic at times. There were great angles and moments to cut between allowing for creative editing. One moment felt so devastating in 2D as we cut between shots of the actor (in avatar form) releasing his grip and the other actor crumbled to the ground gasping.
Could a VR Cinematographer be a new job for VR creators? Could the 2D output of this virtual content actually be as cinematically satisfying as 2D captured content?
I muse…
Reflections the actors made regarding how they felt embodying their avatars. “I didn’t stop to look at who I was…I only cared about what my scene partner looked like.” Carl Hendrick Louis. Another highlight of this session was watching Kareem discover flying. Despite the heavy drama of this scene; there was a lot of laughter during our session!
YES, AND!
We rounded out our research with more laughter by trying Improv in VR. We brought in the former artistic director of the PIT, Kevin Laibson; and professional improviser, Mark Stetson for a workshop. The improvisers adapted quickly to the headsets and controllers; but they felt their performance suffered. I ran them through a series of short exercises and activities where they were establishing a world and basic props. One challenge they faced was setting linear space, which they felt was “very hard.”
By the end of the workshop I felt that they were able to overcome the technical frustrations and begin to find some freedom. In the moments where they were able to forget the technical boundaries it enabled them to go beyond short form. The actors felt that VR brings them back to the place when they first discovered Improvisation — a place of total joy. This excites me because it demonstrates the power of VR.
Where we’re going next…
We have now formed a real VR Improv Troupe, training actors and creating live performances and workshops in VR. Stay tuned!
