Today’s Immersive VR Buzz: Disney’s First VR Film ‘Cycles’ Is A Heartfelt Emotional Roller Coaster

This was a very interesting BUZZ that I found today and wanted to share with you.

Originally posted on: https://vrscout.com

When Disney revealed their plans to develop an animated short story designed specifically for virtual reality, no one knew what to expect.

On one hand you have VR, a growing medium that has still yet to find its place in the world of filmmaking; and on the other you have Walt Disney Animation Studios,

one of the most celebrated animation studios in the industry thanks to an endless string of hits, including Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Zootopia, Lilo & Stitch, Tangled, The Emperor’s New Groove, The Lion King, and countless others.

Put simply, if there’s any studio capable of tapping into the winning formula behind virtual reality storytelling, it’s Disney; and based off the initial reactions to their latest project, Cycles, the studio is off to an excellent start.

Helmed by first-time director Jeff Gipson, who has previously served as a lighting director for Disney on such hits as Frozen, Zootopia, and Ralph Breaks the Internet, Cycles is Disney’s first foray into the world of immersive filmmaking; although you couldn’t tell by looking.

Marrying cutting-edge 6DoF VR technology with Disney’s classic art style, Cycles delivers a unique VR passive experience that blurs the line between modern and classic animation.

Inspired by Gipson’s childhood spending time with his grandparent in their home before having to move them to an assisted living environment, Cycles centers around the trials and tribulations of a loving family over the course of 50 years,

all from the perspective of the home itself. You watch as the painfully relatable family goes about their day-to-day throughout the warm domicile, experiencing their captivating story and learning more about their complex lives.

“Every house has a story unique to the people, the characters who live there,” states Gipson. “We wanted to create a story in this single place and be able to have the viewer witness life happening around them.

It is an emotionally driven film, expressing the real ups and downs, the happy and sad moments in life.”

Jeff, an avid freestyle BMX rider, often travels to abandoned homes around Los Angeles in search of empty pools to ride. Throughout his excursions, he discovered that each home held the story of a family who had once lived there.

It was a combination of these experiences, as well as his fond childhood memories, that served as the catalyst behind the personal, emotionally driven film.

However, once you’re finished wiping away those unavoidable tears, you’ll begin to notice the smaller technological elements that subtly come together to immerse users in the experience. One of the more obvious techniques is the use of gray-scale visuals to redirect the users attention.

While you are of course free to look around in any direction throughout the experience, a majority of the experience requires the user to pay attention to specific locations in order to follow along with the plot.

To help guide a user’s gaze towards the action, Cycles automatically fades to gray whenever you break general eye contact with the focus point of the scene; an intuitive way of redirecting attention without taking you out of the experience.

It’s all an effort by Gipson to deliver the sensation of living through memories, with fully animated scenes are strung together by a series of time lapses that tell the emotional tale in one seamless shot.

“Editing is tricky in VR and I wanted one long seamless kind of shot, and so in order to bridge the story beats we use time-lapse,” stated Gibson during an interview with VRScout. 

Order the Insta360 One X here and get a FREE Selfie Stick!
Order the Insta360 One X here and get a FREE Selfie Stick!

What is 360 VR Video?

360 video is a video that is recorded in all directions at the same time with multiple cameras. The videos are stitched together either internally in the camera or externally using special software.

It then forms one spherical video that is controlled by the viewer, enabling them to look up, down, right or left at their discretion.

Is 360 Video Virtual Reality?

I want you to be the judge.

Recommended MicroSD Card for use with the Fusion 360 camera

Recommended MicroSD Card for use with the Fusion 360 camera 

How are you watching your 360 VR Video?

Are you watching on your PC?

Is it Facebook? YouTube? Veer.TV ?

Or better still, are you using your Samsung Galaxy Smartphone with your Samsung Gear VR Headset?

GoPro-Fusion-Tripod-Mount-1_4-20-screw-thread for GoPro Fusion

Or are you using another smartphone with a Google Cardboard? Google Daydream?

Leave a comment below. Let us know what you like or don’t like. If you have seen a 360 VR video that you think is awesome, tell us, and we will feature it.

What type of VR Headset do you own? Or do you watch with your computer? Smartphone?

Do you have a VR camera? Ricoh Theta S? Ion360?  Samsung 360 gear? Insta360?

And if you are looking for 360 Video Production Services, contact Al Caudullo exploretv@gmail.com

With 37 years of Media experience, we can Deliver More for You in 360 Video. Click here to see what our customers say about our work

Utilizing state of the art technology, Al Caudullo, and his team has been delivering award-winning compelling productions spanning the globe. Exotic destinations blended with unique cultural experiences give viewers an experience like no other.

From vibrant American cities like San Francisco and Las Vegas to the isolated mountains of Mongolia. From ancient civilizations of Cambodia and Myanmar to the lush resorts of Southeast Asia and beyond. All from the comfort of your living room.

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