My Boggle? Not enough VR films…
Does anybody remember Demolition Man, from back in ’93? It’s a great movie and features some memorable lines like, “Mellow greetings, citizen. What seems to be your boggle?”, and a few grandiose visions of how Southern California might look in the year 2032.
A lot of the predictions made in the film, such as teleconferencing and the rise in popularity of video calling, tablet devices, biometric implants and voice activation have in fact already become common place as we know. Even the thought of self-driving cars becoming ubiquitous in cities is no longer far-fetched, thanks to Google and other such pioneers.
One scene in the film that I think we all hope doesn’t come to fruition though features ‘John Spartan’ and ‘Lenina Huxley’ partaking in a “digital transference of sensual energies” in a sort of weird, virtual realm, instead of enjoying the literal act of you-know-what, much to the disappointment of Sylvester Stallone’s character.
Interestingly though, one of the films other stars is currently embracing VR in an exceedingly more appealing way.
Wesley Snipes is working on a short VR film to promote his upcoming sci-fi horror full length feature, “The Recall”. Viewers will get to interact with Snipes and some of the other cast members as they experience an alien invasion and will be able to choose between multiple different endings. The featurette is expected to be released before the films mid-year release and parts of it will be made available on Facebook 360.
Exciting stuff indeed as critics and film lovers alike begin to hail VR and its immersive worlds as an exciting new direction for cinema. The technology certainly offers fresh opportunities for storytelling, as confirmed by Google’s VR film ‘Pearl’ being nominated for an Oscar in the category of best animated short film recently.
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