Preface
VR (Virtual Reality) film is a video creation medium that has emerged in recent years and impacted the mainstream. When the Venice International Film Festival, one of the world's three major film festivals, established the Venice Immersive section in 2016, VR programs and productions have emerged from all over the world, symbolizing that the VR era has officially begun.
Unlike traditional films, which are watched from a single location, VR films are characterized by the use of panoramic shooting technology, which allows the audience to be immersed in a 360-degree film through a head-mounted VR device. The subjective and passive storyline, the sense of immediacy of the sound and images that follow the movement of the head, and the sense of participation and empathy in watching the film rise to a whole new level, making VR films synonymous with "immersive experience".
While filming equipment and technology have been driving the evolution of film aesthetics, the full-speed development of VR films has never slowed down, with the "Interactive VR" with joystick and optional features, "Mixed Reality MR" that mixes virtual content with reality in real time, and "Room-scale VR'' that emphasizes the sense of spatiality and the freedom to explore. These kinds of new forms offer greater interactivity and have become a major trend for creators to explore the possibilities of cinema.
"Rewind" and "Fast Forward" - two important buttons on the VCR when playing a film. Inspired by this, two series of short-term exhibitions, "Rewind Macao" and "Looking Forward", will be held in the exhibition space on the 3rd floor of the Cinematheque・Passion. Following the first exhibition of the "Rewind Macao" series, "Freeze The Moments - Akimoto Chan's Film Stills Exhibition", the "Looking Forward" series, which introduces cutting-edge works from overseas, presents the first exhibition of the "Immerse - VR Film Experiential Exhibition", hoping that the immersive cinematic sensation of VR will allow us to open our eyes and ears, and to be mesmerized by the illusion of stimulating the imagination of the images.
The exhibition "Immerse - VR Film Experiential Exhibition" returns to the VR360 format, which emphasizes pure viewing, and features two VR works with different aesthetics and dialogues with reality:
【2024.2.6 - 2024.3.31】
Chroma 11, a VR work directed by Tsang Tsui-shan, centers on the symbiotic creation/relationship between dance artists Aaron Khek Ah Hock and his partner Ix Wong Thien-pau, and reconstructs in the VR medium a reunion of two people who have been separated from each other but who are still in a state of virtual reality. In addition to Chroma 11, the exhibition also features the short film Ward 11, a linear narrative concept that highlights the transition and experimentation of Tsang's work from traditional film narration to VR.
【2024.4.1 - 2024.5.8】
Dutch transmedia creator Adriaan Lokman uses a linear aesthetic to recreate the seemingly ordinary day of the protagonist in Flow. When the protagonist wakes up from a dream, the movement of people, traffic, breath, and gusts of wind, all around her appear in front of her eyes in a series of sometimes concrete, sometimes abstract lines. Blurring reality and dream, Flow seems to open the viewer's eyes to the heavens and reacquaint them with everyday life in VR video.
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Flow
2023 / Color / 15’ / No Dialogue / The Netherlands, France
Director: Adriaan Lokman
2023 Venice International Film Festival — Special Jury Prize, Venice Immersive section
2023 BFI London Film Festival
2023 Kaohsiung Film Festival
Flow invites you to surrender to the whims of the wind on a seemingly ordinary day, concealing within its turbulence a captivating night in the life of a woman, portrayed through the dance of air currents.
The interplay of scents, warmth, respiration, and both natural and artificial gusts of wind, influenced by invisible forces, renders the imperceptible tangible. These atmospheric movements unveil a sequence of events inviting us to follow the woman on her meanderings, plunging us into a realm crafted entirely from air. However, as the storm subsides and the woman awakens from what transpires to have been a dream, her world is no longer the same.
VR360 Screening
Quota: 3 persons per screening (Free Admission)
* The entire experience is 15 minutes long
* Please be sure to arrive on time after registration;
* All participants must be at least 120cm tall; children aged 7 to 12 should be accompanied by their parents.
Screening Info (must read before registration)
- VR Screenings are not recommended for children under the age of 7 as their eyesight may still be developing. Children aged 7 or above require to have a body height of 120 cm or above. Guardian will be required to accompany children who are aged between 7 to 12.
- Please follow the instruction of staff to put on the screening device. Please inform the staff immediately if any problem.
- Most glasses are suitable for VR headset, though we recommend audiences to put on contact lenses for a better viewing experience.
- In order to show the films in their best quality, Chinese subtitles may not be provided in some films. Chinese/English dialogue sheet will be offered at the venues.
- Dizziness and nausea may happen to some audience during screenings. Please make sure your physical and mental health condition is capable for VR screenings before starting the experience. The event will take no responsibility for the similar situation.
- If you do not feel well during screenings, please raise your hand for assistance immediately. Our staff will provide assistance and stop the screening if needed.
- Food and drinks are not allowed inside any of the screening venues.
- Mobile phones will need to turn sound off during screenings. No recordings are allowed.
- In the event of breakdown of equipment, or any other unexpected circumstance which stop the operation, the VR film screenings will be postponed.