FILM
I always thought that Imax was as immersive as movies could get. That was, until I watched director Amy Talkington's 360-degree film, The New Arrival. Debuted at Cannes as a big-screen projection demo from a Sony Vaio laptop, The New Arrival is the first in a slate of 360-degree films set to roll out on AtomFilms this fall.
I'm not generally an interactive movie fan, but the film offered up interaction of a different stripe. Using my keyboard and mouse to zoom and steer, I was able to center the action wherever I wanted - 360 degrees around the camera. Up until now, 360 films at Imax or Disneyland were played in circular theaters, with the audience physically turning to see the filmed panorama. This new genre allows me to explore every nook and cranny of the scene from my home office - and being nosey pays off. The seemingly simple story follows a character's passage across the Brooklyn Bridge and into a retirement home, but catching the twist ending requires visual sleuthing and multiple viewings, making it seem like my own private mystery dinner theater.
Talkington shot the four-minute video with a single Beta SP camera fitted with a doughnut-shaped snap-on lens created by Silicon Valley-based Be Here. Talkington, who was assisted by producer Zachary Mortensen and cinematographer Jim Denault (Boys Don't Cry), was more or less shooting blind as the lens recorded wraparound panoramas that would appear impossibly squeezed on a video monitor. Talkington had to rely on instinct and hearing to direct. Postproduction meant "unwrapping" the image via Be Here's iVideo Create software, putting the footage through MediaCleaner for compression to QuickTime, and then, for editing, into Final Cut Pro, which can handle the unusual aspect ratio of 4:1. Once the image is crunched, Be Here's full pan, tilt, and zoom tools can be employed in RealPlayer and Windows Media Player.
Filmmaking is based on the exquisite art of juxtaposing one chosen image with the next, frame after frame, for the duration of the story. With 360-degree films, all bets are off - time for some new rules for telling tales.
The New Arrival: free viewing at www.atomfilms.com. Be Here iVideo package (including Beta SP camera, 360-degree lens, and Be Here iVideo Create software): available for rent starting at $2,500 per week, www.behere.com.
STREET CRED
The Me Index
Gildergasm
Anglo Galactico
Witch Hunt
Anti-G Shock
Pharm Trek
It's a Wrap
ReadMe
Music
Comicopia
On Your Mark, Get Set, Row!
Interface-Off
Just Outta Beta
The Burrows of New York
Work Study
Contributors
