A beginner's guide to Virtual Reality

 ‘Virtual Reality is 60% film and 40% sound’

Jack Lowe, Artistic Director and Technical Dramaturg at Curious Directive

As part of UK/ID festival Curious Directive came to Indonesia to put on Frogman: a coming of age crime drama that combines virtual reality with live theatre. 

Whilst in Indonesia Jack Lowe ran workshops for people who want to get into VR. We went along to get some tips!

Getting started with VR:

1. Sound is as important as the visuals. Think of how sound is used in horror films, it forms part of the experience for your audience.
2. You are not completely in control of the experience you create. You can set parameters but the audience can explore what they want in VR. you create the environment but not the story.
3. Immersion is very important. To create a fantastic VR experience you need to immerse people into an environment. Take your audience somewhere exciting.
4. Create a presence for your audience, who are they in the space? The people who watch your VR need some kind of role in the experience. 
5. Comfort is key for the user. The whole experience from beginning to end needs to be thought out. This includes things like the seat they are in, the space they have and the temperature during the experience.
6. Start with a great camera. The samsung gear 360 camera is a great one to start with if you don’t want to spend too much money. It has an app that you can connect to, making things simple for you.
7. You absolutely need to download Unity software. This is important software to create your VR film!
8. Download useful apps to keep you in the VR loop! Within, Guardian VR and RYOT VR are 3 key apps that will keep you up to date with the latest in VR.
9. Try a mix of editing tools. Premier Pro, Skybox Studio, After Effects, Autopano Giga/Autopano Pro and GoPro VR are all really useful.
10. Think of the VR experience like a theatre performance. When you watch a film at the cinema the focus can be highlighted e.g. zooming in on a person crying. You aren't able to do this with VR as the audience chooses what they go and focus on. Thinking of the experience like a play is useful when filming, everyone and everything in the shot has a role to play!