virtual fictions
IMMERSIVE NARRATIVES IN THE AGE OF VIRTUAL REALITY
Acting out ideas in the real world is an important part of testing the conceptual, critical or aesthetic potential for projects in many disciplines. Fiction can be a useful tool when trying to learn the limits of a new set of ideas, and provides a platform to prototype concepts which can result in positive, unexpected outcomes. By building real structures around ideas we can immerse ourselves in a specific situation, discover new lines of enquiry, encounter happy accidents and think through making: all are elements of a design process that will enrich and engage the maker and the audience.
• 1 August - 26 August 2016
• four weeks, full-time in Berlin, Germany
• 10-15 participants accepted, rolling admissions
• Based in ACUD MACHT NEU
Pricing
Artist / Student (Full Time)*
€1900
Professional*
€2200
course
description
This program offers a hands-on course in storymaking and storytelling. Working as an experimental film unit, over the course of four weeks, we will speculate around the cultural and social impacts that the advances in virtual reality may have on society, forming narratives centred around personal visions of virtual worlds.
We will build a collection of experimental 360° films, each presenting different immersive experiences and stories within imagined virtual realities.
The films will be informed by our investigation into virtual reality itself as an emerging and
complicated technology. Narratives will form around characters and situations which probe at what it means for virtual reality to become mainstream for future entertainment, education and other forms of escape.
By developing these films, our objective will be to uncover and experiment with techniques for making new narrative experiences. Utilising dedicated film camera equipment and editing software, combined with the physical prototyping of props, we will test out new forms for fiction and transport our imagination into the make-believe.
course outline
Week 1: VR technology overview with industry professionals. Contextual research and workshops for design fictions, with field trips to studios and organisations working with VR.
Week 2: Developing concepts and stories in response to contextual research, alongside dedicated storytelling and making workshops. Prototyping narratives, scripts and test shoots with cameras and editing software. First iteration of props.
Week 3: Resolve scenarios, build sets, make props and costumes, preparations for 'official shoot'. Production of final outcomes.
Week 4: Complete filming and post-production. Screening of films in public event.
who is this class for?
This program is aimed at people working in creative disciplines who are interested developing their skills and knowledge for communicating ideas through storytelling. It adopts methods of design fiction: using narrative elements to envision and explain complex proposals and concepts. This program is for anyone who is interested in getting hands-on with 360° video technology and wants to critically explore issues and themes surrounding virtual reality. Our motivation will be to use film and narrative experience to consider the wider cinematic, psychological and cultural issues of immersive virtuality. The studio will be a playful environment to collaborate with likeminded people, to develop interesting concepts and physically prototype ideas. There are no specific requirements for certain skills, however a keen interest in making and storytelling with art and design is important to bring to Berlin.