Virtual reality steals the show at Sundance
Amid flurries of snow and clusters of Hollywood stars, virtual reality stole the spotlight at this year’s 2016 Sundance Film Festival. It was all the buzz up and down the crowded sidewalks of Park City, Utah’s tourist-turned-tinsel town during the 10-day festival. Sure, there’s been an undercurrent around of VR at the show for the past few years, but this was the year it rocketed past being the awkward new kid on the indie film circuit to become that A-lister everyone now wants a part of.
That’s a big deal for film and tech lovers alike. If you’re old enough to remember when cell phones or the concept of email first hit the mainstream masses—that’s what VR felt like at Sundance this year. “I'm laughing at it right now just like I laughed at email,” joked Thor 3 director Taika Waititi, whose film Hunt for the Wilderpeople debuted at Sundance (incidentally, not in VR, but with the help of Dolby Atmos, a sort of 3D audio tech playing a major role in virtual reality), “I’ll buy into it when it gets really cool.”
That could be sooner than he thinks.
At the festival’s New Frontier building where more than 30 VR experiences played out, thousands of people braved long lines and packed rooms to pick up a Google Cardboard viewer or strap on a Samsung Gear VR or HTC Vive for a first look at the immersive future of film and entertainment. Big tech companies and major movie studios were making deals around it: Rumors abound about Apple entering the VR market. Samsung announced it’s opening a new VR film studio in New York City. Fox demonstrated a VR experience of its hit film The Martian — and it’s hardly the only Hollywood studio setting its sights on VR, with Disney, Legendary and Warner Bros all now pushing into virtual reality too.
With more ways to watch VR hitting the market, including the much-hyped Oculus headset finally coming out in March, the influence of Hollywood and other big players is about to explode. “The lure and the possibility of this medium is very real,” said Sundance New Frontier chief curator, Shari Frilot. “Filmmakers are feeling it. Even audiences are starting to feel it.”
To say audiences are “feeling VR” is pretty on-the-nose. Visually, VR can put the viewer inside the story—even inside the body—of a main character, while new audio technology serves up 360-degree sound.
"Virtual reality brings everything to the story. It brings the power of being in a first person perspective and really, really putting you inside a story," explained Rose Troche, the writer, director and producer of Perspective 2: The Misdemeanor. Troche, along with VR pioneer Morris May and Specular Theory created a VR installation that put the viewer in the middle of a fictional police-involved shooting. Rather than passively watch the drama unfold, the viewer becomes the various characters, from the officer who is reacting under the assumption that his partner is about to be shot, to the young black man who is killed while reaching for his cell phone. It’s a story pulled straight from the headlines—but in virtual reality it’s an entirely different experience from anything we’ve seen before. For me, going through it was as powerful as anything I’ve experienced in VR. “Everybody has made a mistake in this whole thing, and it escalates so quickly,” said Troche. “But it’s really for you to experience, to try to feel what it’s like to have that fear, to feel like Oh my god, what did I just do? I just shot someone. It wouldn't have the same impact in traditional filmmaking.”
Virtual reality has the potential to change the way Hollywood tells stories—and places like Sundance—where filmmakers can push the boundaries of new technologies, has the potential to push VR into the mainstream.
“Sundance epitomizes the experimentation, the cutting edge and pioneering of new experiences that will enable some of the best content yet to come in film and other entertainment,” said Joel Susal, Director of VR at Dolby, the company breaking new ground on precision sound for VR tech. “In VR, the experience is unfolding all around you just like real life unfolds around you. In real life, we have numerous senses,” explained Susal. An audio cue to your right might cause you to turn your head to see another character entering the scene—and when you turn your head, the sound mix has to change to match your new perspective.
The layers of technology it takes to pull this off is mind-boggling, but the industry is stepping up. "People want to be impressed, taken away, have an emotional connection to the content," said David Dolby, of San Francisco based Dolby Laboratories. “This is a tool which if harnessed properly can really expand creativity and help people see a lot of other perspectives.”
So will we all go to Sundance 2017 though a VR headset? We just might. This year’s content has already been released in a VR app. And once Hollywood gets involved, it’s usually just a matter of time before we do too.
"I don’t think my mom will have [VR] this year," said Susal. "That will be in two or three more years, but something exciting is about to happen for sure.”
Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech contributor and host of USA TODAY's digital video show TECH NOW. E-mail her at techcomments@usatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenniferJolly.