We already knew that some companies were planning to embrace virtual reality for the forthcoming Sundance Film Festival in Utah this month, but Vice News has a specific new project on the way that could really shake up how attendees view entertainment from the medium.
According to Variety, the company will debut its first VR-based news feature at the festival. A collaboration between filmmakers Chris Milk and director Spike Jonze, the piece, titled Vice News VR: Millions March, will focus on a protest that took place last month in New York City, in opposition of police brutality. Vice News’ Alice Speri will host the film, which will debut on a new app being produced by Milk and VR-based development team VRSE.
More than 25,000 New York citizens blocked the streets during the protest, following the Ferguson incident that happened months before, where a police officer killed an unarmed black teenager and another incident where a large African-American man was choked to death in Staten Island.
With the technology, Vice News set up the film to provide a “you are there” sort of presentation, engulfing viewers right into the thick of the action – rather than simply sitting them on the sidelines. It utilizes a 360-degree VRSE-built in camera system to make that effect all the more realistic.
This is just the beginning of Vice News’ new approach to journalism, as it expects to produce new pieces as well. “My hope is that VR is the tool we need to stir more compassion for one another,” Milk said in a statement for the project. “I think VR holds the potential to fundamentally change journalism.”
Jonze believes the project allows filmmakers to approach storytelling from a unique angle. “Living in New York this fall and feeling these spontaneous protests against police brutality that have been forming and growing, it seemed like this was the most timely and important subject to go shoot,” he explained. “When we got the footage back and watched it on the goggles, I was so moved by what we had.”
The app, which will also contain other programs such as the CGI-based Evolution of Verse, will be available soon for both iOS and Google Play. It’s likely it’ll find its way to the Oculus Rift technology as well.
It’s definitely a staggering new approach to cinema, and the involvement angle – being able to relive moments in a 360-degree setting – could set the pace for a new medium for the world to partake in. We’ll see how successful it is once it releases.
