Image via miff.com.au
This short South Korean virtual reality film mixes static and moving imagery to evoke words sent from a man to a woman as he revisit the places they went to together. Like a poem, we sense the emptiness of the spaces without her, the monochrome of lost punctuated by the saturated colour of memory. Continue reading
An interesting journey through sites of industry – metal crushers, freight ships, oil wells – with people who work there speaking of their relationships with sound and silence. Marred by the noise coming from the venue foyer, it was nevertheless an interesting experience but not as visually pleasing as the above image.
Image via miff.com.au
Virtual Reality at its best immerses you in a human experience in a way that cinema can’t. Parragirls Past, Present floats you slowly through a mostly ghost-like recreation of the Parramatta Girls’ Home while former inmates – survivors – recount their stories. Continue reading
Image via miff.com.au
This Kiwi creation takes you into the world of aspiring rugby player 18-year-old Hemi. His dream to play for New Zealand is tempered by a need for him to be able to connect with his Maori culture and fully understand and engage with the Haka before he can be ready for such a step. Continue reading
Image via miff.com.au
This 20 minute Virtual Reality short takes you on a journey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance. Continue reading
Image via miff.com.au
Three men who have been held in detention on Manus Island tell their stories in an affecting graphic novel style of virtual reality. Continue reading
Image via collisionsvr.com
Virtual Reality is cool. Not technically great yet but it is impossible not to be personally and emotionally engaged with a genuine story when you are suddenly within arm’s reach of the story teller. Collisions is a small and resounding tale, a conversation with Nyarri Nyarri Morgan, a Martu man director Lynette Wallworth met in the Pilbara. Continue reading
Okay, maybe not all VR is brilliant. This overly complicated and clunky 20-minute ‘pilot episode’ of a private eye noir-esque story left me unsatisfied. Our group was worded up beforehand that there would be clues to observe, a puzzle to solve and moments where we must make a choice between two elements of the story. I was a bit worried that I would miss things and maybe I did because it didn’t really make much sense to me. Continue reading
My second VR experience was a sobering one. This time I was ushered into a room with a circle of chairs and settled in with nine other people. We are kitted up with our goggles and headphones and then all of a sudden, I am in a solitary confinement cell. Bed, toilet, shelf, door, blank painted walls, a heavy door with a clouded window. As I move my gaze around the room, objects light up and fragments of audio interviews of people talking about their experiences play. Continue reading
I love virtual reality! Wow, what an experience. The Turning Forest is a short (10 minute) animation and the virtual reality goggles insert you right into the middle of it. MIFF has a series of VR experiences this year and for this one, I was ushered into a curtained off space and seated on a stool that swivels 360 degrees. With goggles and headphones on, the blackness suddenly falls away and I am in an iridescent forest with orange trees towering above me. Continue reading
