“If the poet’s duty is to reveal all their secrets, then I rather do so in my sleep.”                             (Jean Cocteau, I think? I can’t remember where I read or saw this, and if anybody knows the source, please leave a comment! I’ve been racking my brain for months now.) 

“The ultimate desire of any artist is to get someone to listen to their dream. With film, I can force you into it.”
                            (Another whose authorship or precise wording I can’t recall, yet sticks with me, possibly also Cocteau…)

Our second unit involves VR as an evolving storytelling medium. Many are changing the way they perceive in order to bring storytelling to this new technology, which necessarily means coming to terms with its limits as it stands today. Namely, not breaking the plausibility (once it is broken, it is possibly lost forever), inducing a sense of spatial presence which may fluctuate (on this users are a bit more forgiving), avoiding motion sickness, designating clear points of focus and interest, and the list goes on… 

Here are the requirements for this unit:
(1) A short script for a linear narrative VR experience (60-90 seconds)
(2) A storyboard in one of the available VR apps (with an integration of VR related concepts, like interaction, presence, or the uncanny valley, etc.)
(3) A VR environment based on the storyboard
(4) A critical report exploring
(a) the concept (500 words)
(b) why it’s best suited for a 360 immersive space compared to linear media/ how it reflects the relevant concepts (max 1200 words)

For this unit I have a clear objective. I want to prioritize the concept of spatial story, since I think it is an essential ingredient of this new medium. I want to create a sense of constructive and productive mystery that will blur the lines between the physical world and the virtual world. This I will achieve by creating a space and characters with levels of abstraction (not photo-realistic, but painterly). The script in itself will revolve around the language of dreams, where most of our visceral reactions are produced.

My objective is heavily influenced by both my experience with dreaming (I have kept a dream journal for more than a year now) and my recent research of immersive narratives. The term “environmental storytelling” was popularized in the gaming world, but may prove to be relevant in VR narratives, as well. According to Henry Jenkins of MIT,

“Environmental storytelling creates the preconditions for an immersive narrative experience in at least one of four ways:
(1) spatial stories can evoke preexisting narrative associations
(2) they can provide a staging ground where narrative events are enacted
(3) they may embed narrative information within their mise-en-scene
(4) or they provide resources for emergent narratives.”
(This citation was taken from John Bucher’s book Storytelling for Virual Reality, p. 66)

Here is the space I will be recreating, literally from a dream I had of a theatre:

I believe the 90 second story will go something like this: the user begins in front of a theatre curtain and has to push it aside to come inside. In it, they will suddenly get a view of this theatre with its three characters. The one laying down may look at the viewer if the viewer chooses to pass by them, but the other will beckon for them to sit beside them. I’m still not sure how I will make sure they choose to do that, since an uncanny valley effect may be induced and I don’t necessarily want to force discomfort.

I may need to explore the concept of vection as it relates to VR, since it creates the illusion of self-motion. An example of this is when one is sitting in a stationary train and sees another depart. One may perceive their own train as moving. If this illusion is achieved (without motion sickness!), I believe it may be a great victory for all VR storytelling.

The problem of getting the user to sit by the character notwithstanding, this narrative may also be an experience where the ending remains the same (is set in motion) no matter what the user chooses. In this case, a flooding of the theatre with the screen as the spring. If the user does choose to sit by the man and listen to what he has to say, they will be subject to a reflection on dreams that will bring the unreality to the forefront while the theatre gets flooded. This interaction can serve as a verbal confirmation of the visual experience.

I have chosen this approach because one of my main interests is to use VR to create new mythologies. For this, I believe, a spatial story and a visceral presence is necessary to induce later reflections of narratives. I want emotion to be the primary effect, and in this case, a sense of wonder and curiosity. Should it fail, I think it will be a worthwhile resource to understand how users respond to these kind of abstract spatial narratives.

For my creation of atmosphere, I am currently looking at these examples taken from traditional 2D media. 

One of the most potent effects VR may have is a redefining of our understanding of authorship and story… cheers to that! I would love to hear reactions to this sort of approach I’m taking for Unit 2, as I’m sure they would inform the evolution of this story (if one can even call it that yet…).