philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

At Sundance, VR explores America’s legacy of racism and… Eminem

We've reached a point where it's no longer surprising to find virtual reality experiences at film festivals like Sundance and Tribeca.

It was easy to chart the evolution of virtual filmmaking: Everything simply looked better, and artists were getting more comfortable with the language of VR. Now as the next Sundance Film Festival kicks off, its time for the next wave of VR to shine. There isn't a noticeable jump in quality this time around, but it's clear that filmmakers still have plenty to say.

Traveling While Black, directed by Roger Ross Williams, explores just how difficult it was for African Americans to move around the US during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. It uses 360-degree video to place you right inside of Ben's Chili Bowl, a historic safe space for black travelers in Washington, DC.

Williams and co-director Ayesha Nadarajah use the 360-degree video perspective in intriguing ways. At times, the booth mirror beside you reflects Ben's Chili Bowl in the past, symbolizing how the problems we're facing today are directly connected to what came before. In other scenes, like the segment with Samaria Rice, you're sitting in the middle of a crowd, and you can see how her story deeply affects everyone in the room. It's an experience you can't easily recreate by watching the film on a 2D screen.

Felix & Paul are also behind Marshall from Detroit, Marshall "Eminem" Mathers' ode to his hometown. It's an all-encompassing video that follows the artist as he reminisces with rapper and journalist Sway Calloway. It's mostly set in the back seat of a limo, but since you're watching it in VR, it's as if you're part of that intimate conversation as well.

Moving away from 360-degree video and into interactive VR, there's Emergence, an Oculus Rift experience from Within and the artist Matt Pyke of the creative firm Universal Everything. ... As you move the analog sticks of the Oculus Touch controllers around, you'll notice that everyone tends to follow what you're doing.

See the full story here: https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/26/sundance-vr-traveling-while-black/