1. VR Journalism
THE TOW CENTER,
FRONTLINE, and
SECRET LOCATION
a demo of live action documentary VR.
2. Framing
A need to align form with the capacity,
constraints and needs of journalism.
New Technical requirements
New Narrative form
New forms of Representation
3. Goals
Investigate what’s involved in making this
kind of journalism.
Better understand the non-fiction
storytelling potential of VR.
Produce a good work of journalism that
affords the audience with a new
understanding of elements of the story.
Critical reflection on potential
4.
5.
6. The Story
Where could VR add something
meaningful to the journalism?
The story we settled on was about the
spread of Ebola in West Africa
7. 3 critical moments
The tree where Ebola likely jumped from
bats to humans.
The village where Ebola spread from
patient zero to the more.
A field hospital, where the slow
mobilization of resources was most
cruelly felt.
8.
9.
10. What we found
Creative and editorial.
A powerful effect of immersion.
Important to shoot specifically for VR.
The interstitial menu is a crucial framing
narrative device.
Added layer of interactivity is really
important.
11. What we found
Production.
The teams are huge, and the budgets are
huge.
The industry is still developing a
production language.
Post production, particularly interactivity,
is far too cumbersome.
The hardware is developing with
astonishing pace.
12. What’s next:
The release of the 2D and VR story.
The Tow Center report.
New Questions:
- Newsroom deployment.
- Automated post production & interactivity
- Experience testing.
- Representation, form, knowledge and emotion
