Thinking inside the 360 degree box
No great idea ever started with the words “let’s make a 360 video".
When marketeers and their agencies set about trying to work out how to best use the latest technology, you can almost be certain that many won’t get past showcasing the technologies capabilities, rather than creating a magical experience. This is true of the latest embrace of 360 content being created by brands and pushed out at ease on multiple social platforms that make the process ‘oh-so-easy’. “we can shoot it 360" the enthusiastic account exec crows! Instead of being wowed by a genuine groundbreaking experience of an altered reality, we are being subjected to a dross of ideas that are some what shallower than the depth of field currently achievable on the cameras shooting these wonderments. Just because it’s being shot in 360 degrees doesn’t all of a sudden make it engaging, especially given the fact many of the storytelling devices usually employed by a director to further a narrative or maintain interest can’t be utilised.
The list of things that shouldn’t be shot in 360 and simply pushed out is getting longer by the day. I’ll start with music performances, then there is hot-laps round race tracks, there’s the production lines, then this week there was the ‘just ‘being there’ ; A 360 video dedicated to a branded experiential pop-up you could probably actually gone to in real life if only you had known about it! I’m not about to name and shame but the list is getting longer, an endless stream of consciousness captured in 360 for no discernible reason.
So where does the problem lie and what is the answer if this technology is just going to die out as a fad, or worst still, we choke on the deluge of poor content before truly recognising it’s greatness.
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be part of initiative with Bombay Sapphire and Tribeca Film Festival looking at the future of storytelling. discernible showcased trans-media projects and one in particular to this day in my mind, has yet to be surpassed. Utilising early Oculus Rift headsets it played out a homicide that had taken place which had consequently lead to an unsafe conviction. The immersive 360 storytelling allowed you to experience the same sequence of events from multiple perspectives of the police officers and witnesses. Carefully reconstructed using crime reports and audio recording of the actual police radio comms as the tragic events unfolded. It was genuinely clever use of 360 technology. The clever twist came when after experiencing events first from the perspective of the police officers then from that of the first witness, you were then asked to view events again in a third position and decide for yourself if the evidence presented in court added up to a conviction. Suffice to say the technology took a back seat and for the rest of the day, I was left genuinely moved and asking if the right man was imprisoned, not how cool the technology was (It was though!).
With the technology and distribution now at a point where it has been democratised, therein lies a danger. The basic ideas and concepts that go into storytelling have to be learnt or re-learnt in this space. In a world when I can stream live in 360 to my millions of fans and followers, it’s very easy for storytelling to take a back seat. The best stories are always the ones where the viewer has gaps left by the director; it what makes things engaging, not wallpaper right? 360 content on its own gives the viewer everything, right there, on a plate.
This universal access to the technology in the hands of overstretched multi-functioning social media managers who need to be embracing every new feature the reps from the platforms throw at them, to stay on the curve in the eyes of multi-fuctioning brand paymasters could be it’s downfall. A clearly defined content strategy should help in determining whether something is the right thing for a brand.
Narrative and storytelling must win through if this technology is to be a success. We must look to the expertise of game designers who have lived in this immersive world for the past 20+ years for inspiration. Pioneering work of Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes try and experiences such as the deeply moving 6x9 experience of solitary confinement created by The Guardian, should be heralded as examples we all can learn from. Less that and it will be bleak brand tedium coming soon, live and in 360, to a feed near you.
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