Back in 2016, I had the honor of casting the independent film “Career Opportunities in Organized Crime” (directed and produced by Alex Oshmyansky), one of the first scripted virtual reality feature films. How cool to cast a film where the viewer can also participate in the movie! I didn’t realize at the time, but VR was offering filmmakers a chance to redefine the entire art of filmmaking, acting and casting included!
A VR camera sees and records with a 360-degree perspective, meaning it literally captures the entire scene through the use of multiple lenses. That means it’s capturing the actor(s) as well the entire landscape around them. If the viewer decides to turn in the opposite direction, they aren’t necessarily looking at the actor who is speaking anymore—they may be looking at a cat searching for food in the dumpster or the Victorian chair sitting in the corner.
So, as an actor, how do you address the new VR variable of the audience’s attention span?
Traditionally, the director (via the editor) intercuts actors with an establishing shot or maybe with other people in the room to set the pace and build the relationship and story on screen. Artistically, they guide the viewer
Leave a Reply