Spheres / 1943: Berlin Blitz review – VR becomes reality in Venice
A slightly more rewarding VR event was the eerie and disturbing 1943: Berlin Blitz. Film-maker David Whelan has taken an in-flight recording made by BBC correspondent Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, who went with his sound recordist on what we might today call a “ride-along” on a Lancaster bombing raid on Berlin, commenting on everything as he did so and creating a remarkable documentary record. Whelan recreates around this audio track the experience of being inside the bomber, listening to the pilots and navigators talking tersely to each other and then, on the return journey, laughing and joking in the very midst of carnage. It really is very strange and quite nightmarish, especially when you see the sound man recording Vaughan-Thomas’s words and the ambient noise of the plane on what looks like a little Dansette record player. It is surreal, menacing and induced in me a sense of disorientation and almost panic at being plunged into this uncanny world.
See the full story here: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/30/spheres-1943-berlin-blitz-review-virtual-reality-venice-film-festival