Introduction to 360 Filmmaking

360 film is shot with multiple-lensed cameras and captures the entire 360 scene around the camera.

  • – Who is the camera ?? – take more than one came – more than one shot to make sure
  • — the camera is the viewer is the person the protagonist
  • — who they are strategies – pow – side-kick – fly on the wall
  • —— Pov hard to do and body is confusing
  • ——side-kick or buddy  involved — the issue is you cannot interact
  • —— fly on the wall / anonymous viewer / special angle viewer — (Traveling While Black)
  • — the camera placement
  • – How to plan your shots
  • – 360 cinematography
  • – shadows
  • – how you give directions

Travelling While Black

Available to view free on Oculus

The Female Planet – Tiera Fletcher

Available to view free on YouTube (using a Cardboard VR)

Wilderness – An Immersive Journey into Patagonia

Available to view free on YouTube (using a Cardboard VR)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVg0iruZUGs

Sahara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdFkC6Gtb5A

Petra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSiv4TkfSOE

Baikal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAABA-Ri0YI

Dali https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1eLeIocAcU

NO FRAMING NO ZOOMING AND NO SEQUENCING but yes to Blocking

In 360, where is the frame?! There’s no frame at all. Do viewers feel they are missing out if they are looking in the ‘wrong’ direction? It’s up to us as directors to make sure they are looking in the ‘right’ place for the story. Later on, we’ll look at how you can direct your viewer’s gaze in a 360 film. It could be that looking all around is part of your story.

In 360, you rarely sequence in the same way because too many cuts between shots can feel uncomfortable for a viewer in a headset. Again, think of the camera as the viewer and how a person might move from a wide shot to a close up. A human wouldn’t just jump from a 20ft to 4fit, they would move. So that’s what you do with a 360 shot – move the camera closer, rather than cutting.

We tend to talk about shooting “scenes” rather than shots.

BLOCKING Documentary filmmakers rarely talk about blocking. It’s something used in fictional filmmaking and theatre. But in 360 filmmaking, it’s really important to look all around the camera and work out what is going to be happening in the scene (and therefore what the viewer might see). Any activity, movement or object has to make sense for the viewer if they are to turn away from the main action. If you’re shooting a traditional film scene, you just get all the crew to stand behind the camera. For 360 we have to all be completely out of sight, or we might break the immersion for the viewer.

LENSES Lens choice is also a fundamental part of traditional filmmaking, whether it’s documentary or a feature film. A director and director of photography sit down and plan which lens they’ll use for each shot. However, 360 cameras are not so flexible. If you’re using two DSLRs back to back, you are restricted to wide-angle lenses (fish eye) and if you use a specialist 360 camera, the lenses tend to be fixed. If you want to change the proximity of your shot, you just have to move the camera. Wide shots alone, with nothing in the foreground, look pretty bland, so have a person or object close to the camera to give a sense of perspective.

WE’ve moved from the perspective of the author experienced by many and disputed critiqued shared …to that of the person … each one in the audience … personal

Issues with scenes and cuts … no juxtaposition? No cuts?

Directing your viewers in 360

— directing the viewers gaze or not?

— stabilise the shot – hand held doesn’t work

  • 1. Use field of vision
  • 2. Use movement to attract the viewer
  • 3. Camera placement
  • 4. Light and colour
  • 5. Use spacial sound !!

One of the biggest challenges with making a 360 film is to start thinking about the full 360 scene. Remember, we’re not shooting in sequences, so what can we build into our 360 space? Where are we? Which objects and characters are in the scene?

  • Take a pen and paper and find a location where you can sit down (a garden, park bench, field, outside space or in one of your rooms)
  • Look all around you – in front, side to side, behind you and up and down
  • Draw a circle on the paper and place a stick figure or circle where you are seated, approximately in the centre of the circle
  • From a bird’s eye view (ie as if you are above looking down at the scene) start to plot in the environment around you. Are there trees, flowers and plants? Buildings? A children’s playground? A football pitch?
  • Now start to add in objects and people. How far are they from you? What catches your eye?

This is the start of a process of building a scene. We’ll build on this as you start to storyboard in the next activity.

SHOOTING 360 — Storyboard your idea for a 360 video in 10 shots

  • What you are trying to convey to the viewer with the shot?
  • How will the viewer feel?
  • What will they see first?
  • Which direction do you want them to look at?

With each shot, you should detail the following:

  • – camera placement
  • – how close is the camera to the main character/objects
  • – height of the camera
  • – static or moving shot
  • – if moving, draw an arrow for the distance and direction of the camera

Consumer Cams

An entry-level camera is the GoPro Max Waterproof 360 Digital Action mono Camera with good Stabilisation, Touch Screen and Voice Control

Insta360 consumer cameras are small and make for good starter kits. They come with an app you download onto your phone which allows you to instantly view the footage you capture.

Pro Cams

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Kandao Obsidian, a state of the art 360 camera. It boasts 6 cameras and can shoot 8K footage in monoscopic or stereoscopic

Another professional-grade camera is the Insta360 Pro 2 which has 6 fish-eye lenses and an embedded microphone. These cameras offer 8K HDR footage.

Capture

Monoscopic 360 film has one image that is directed to both eyes. This is the same as traditional 2D film that we watch at the movies, on our TVs or on our phones

In Stereoscopic 360 film, there are two images recorded of the same scene. One depicts the left eye and the other the right eye views of the same scene, which we see as a 3 dimensional scene. Stereoscopic 360 mimics the way humans see the world. Our brains calculate the depth of objects and locations in a scene by viewing them from the positions of our two eyes.

But it becomes too difficult to view if the camera is closer than 50cm.

ISSUE WITH STITCHING — if the subject is too close the stick may create problems ..check for each camera (and according to how many you have rigged)

Remove tripod in post-production with photoshop?

Full focus !! Is important not focus close blur further — NOT LIKE THE HUMAN EYE

Editing 360

Go pro fusion studio

https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/softwareandapp/exporter-for-gopro-fusion-camera-formerly-gopro-fusion-studio-app/fusion-studio.html

https://gopro.com/en/us/news/introducing-fusion-studio

Discontinued

Go pro vr player

Create low res in fusion – edit in premiere  – add professional sound – write edl – in out high res for edit — import – change setting fro sequence to 5k – match gesture — synch facility – repeat for all —  add plate to hide tripod – nest footage — offset filer to decide starting point – colour grading lumetri colour effect drop it — export

Inset plate to hide the tripod – created in Photoshop –

Use offset effect to change the entry angle

Interview – Victoria Mapplebeck

  • -embodied visitor
  • -story being not story telling
  • -presence design
  • -who am I
  • -more affected by issues in the vr space
  • -lack of accessibility
  • -sound !!

Catatonic – In this pioneering VR horror film, you step into the shoes of a mental patient in a wheelchair who is being welcomed into a sinister psychiatric hospital. This immersive journey from acclaimed director Guy Shelmerdine takes you on a dread-filled ride that will leave you gasping — and ready to go again.

Defrost – Defrost takes place in the year 2045, when liquid nitrogen is commonly used to freeze patients until remedies for their illnesses are developed. The film follows the experience of Joan Garrison as she wakes up from her frozen state after thirty years. She reunites with her family, but the reunion is bittersweet, as the passage of time has caused her loved ones to become strangers.

Defrost was filmed in 360° and 3D, allowing audience members to witness the story directly from Joan’s perspective. The result is an intimate and immersive experience.

https://www.darkcornerstudios.com/catatonic

The Female Planet – Episode 1: Gina Rodriguez – Check out Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez in the virtual reality series The Female Planet, which features amazing female role models from around the world. Get a 360 degree look into Gina’s career and passions. From inside the boxing ring to on the set of Jane the Virgin, see just how Gina is busting stereotypes in her career and in her life.

The Female Planet – Episode 2: Inna Braverman – Watch the story of Inna Braverman, green energy entrepreneur and Co-founder of Eco Wave Power, in the virtual reality series The Female Planet. Get a 360 degree look into Inna’s career and see firsthand how she harnesses the power of the ocean and converts waves into usable energy at the Eco Wave Power station in Gibraltar.

The Female Planet – Episode 4: Ibtihaj Muhammad – Watch the story of Ibtihaj Muhammad, an Olympic bronze medalist in fencing, the first Muslim American woman to wear a hijab while competing for the US in the Olympics, and a fashion entrepreneur, in the virtual reality series The Female Planet. Get a 360 degree look into Ibtihaj’s career, understand why she chose fencing as her sport, why she launched her fashion brand, Louella by Ibtihaj Muhammad, and how she has overcome stereotypes to succeed.

Recommended Reading:

IS THER SOMETHING WRONG WITH THESE STORIES?? The story itself the message the format the aesthetic the message the intention?

===END OF PART 2

Location: online training