“When we say expanded cinema we actually mean expanded consciousness. Expanded cinema does not mean computer films, video phosphors, atomic light, or spherical projections. Expanded cinema isn’t a movie at all: like life it’s a process of becoming, man’s ongoing historical drive to manifest his consciousness outside of his mind, in front of his eyes. One no longer can specialize in a single discipline and hope truthfully to express a clear picture of its relationships in the environment. This is especially true in the case of the intermedia network of cinema and television, which now functions as nothing less than the nervous system of mankind.”
What is time? Àpeiron VR is an immersive journey through the depths of this question. In a progression of visual speculations the viewer experiences the unfolding of time from outside time, a place of the undefined.
The VR experience is characterized by a prominent use of footages with high magnification field of view. These type of images have a visual force unmatchable by computer graphics. Generated by the fluid dynamics or chemical reactions instead of algorithmically-made digital content, they lend themselves to an immersive experience which is rich of the enigmatic reverberations of the unexpected. The solitude of the headset becomes a natural stage for a contemplative experience, which aesthetically rather than didactically, strives to attune the viewer to the conceptual range of the idea of time.
The story stemmed from the original script of the feature film “Apeiron”.
With Àpeiron VR we attempt to use an innovative type of visual material. With micro-macro photography we can craft compelling visual effects directly from the dynamics of natural phenomena. Within the camera-space of the high magnification field, we can record the hypnotic intricacies of fluid dynamics, reflections and refractions of light, optical effects, cymatic, electromagnetism and chemical reactions. These images have a life force unmatchable by computer graphics. We want to harness the visual impact of these type of images and project them inside the malleable space of VR where they can take gigantic forms or find an aesthetic balance with computer generated details. Indeed, with this project we suggest an idea of the immersive medium as a vehicle to imagining the infinitely small or the infinitely big. The experience is completed with original spatialized sound design as an ingredient for expanded cinema.
Credits:
Sandro Bocci | director/producer
Sara Tassotti | scriptwriter
Giuseppe Petruzzellis | colorist
Vincenzo Core | music composer
Lili Refrain, Maurizio Morganti, Giorgio Leonelli | musician
Voice over:
Don DeLillo - Excerpted from Point Omega by Don DeLillo - Copyright © 2010 by Don DeLillo - Used by permission of Robin Straus Agency, Inc.
Physical Science Study Committee - MIT - professor emeritus of physics John G. King.
Tech Specs:
Type of experience: VR seated experience - 3DoF
Language: English
Duration: 12 min.
Device: VR cross platform
Video format: 4096x4096 - 360°x180° stereo top/bottom
Audio format: Ambisonic
Updates
ÀPEIRON VR was selected at following festival:
