FILM 2103 - Virtual Reality Filmmaking

5 credit hours
Virtual Reality Filmmaking is a hands-on production-oriented course focused on developing cinematic stories for the immersive medium of virtual reality. In the changing environment of media technologies, new filmmakers need to be able to adapt to the emerging platforms they can use to tell their stories, understanding the unique opportunities, challenges, and limitations each has to offer. This course takes on this concept of adaptation and applies it by learning how to tell linear and immersive stories using a 360-degree camera and ambisonic microphone, with the aim of producing films that can be viewed on a VR headset. This course wants students to learn by doing and sharing: by exploring what virtual reality is, experimenting by crafting content that is thought exclusively for this technology, and sharing their experiences with their peers. Throughout the quarter, students will engage with the subject by experiencing VR created by other artists using the appropriate headsets, reading what other artists and scientists have to say about the medium, and creating content from idea to production. VR is an emerging technology that continues to change and new audiovisual creatives will be the generation that pushes it forward.