The research project "VIRTUAL REALITY: Narration and Reality Concepts in 360° Video" investigates two components of immersive technologies and juxtaposes them with conventional concepts of documentary imaging (especially the method of Direct Cinema). On the one hand, the effect of 360 ° cameras in combination with VR glasses (Oculus Rift) is examined.
360 ° recordings and their playback in interactive 'Virtual Reality' rooms enable a previously unseen realm of reality. Equipped with VR glasses, the spectators can look around and autonomously decide which parts of the depicted reality are of interest to them. Thus, an ideal of 'Direct Cinema' pioneer Richard Leacock, namely 'To capture life as it is', is being realized in a way he could not have imagined at the time. In conventional documentary film, his propagated method (restrained observation, handheld camera, existing light, no instructions to the filmed people, no interviews) is still considered the most reliable when it comes to guaranteeing the highest possible authenticity in documentary filmmaking. In contrast to the VR experience, the view through the camera perspective and editing remains focused both spatially (viewing direction) and in terms of time (length of stay), which is an infallible sign of authorship.
For this project two short films have been realized: Variation 8 (Delia Schiltknecht) and Heimatchroniken (Jonas Schaffter)