Although the bulk of on-stage discussion at last week's Social Media Week New York centered on - you guessed it - social media, much of the video-production-related conversation was about virtual reality and 360 video. The formats have become a hot-button issue for sports-video producers of late, as leagues and broadcasters look to take advantage of the cutting-edge technology and evaluate where VR and 360 video stand in the production ecosystem.Facebook made waves last week, announcing new VR initiatives at Mobile World Congress, and Fox Sports and NextVR had successfully produced the Daytona 500 in VR just days before. These developments follow virtual-reality/360-video sports productions - live and recorded - over the past year by the NBA, WWE, Showtime boxing, PBC on Fox, and others.
VR and 360-video creators are writing a whole-new playbook, casting off the traditional parameters of broadcast and film production in an effort to create the most immersive viewer experience possible. In addition, the technology to produce this content is evolving at a breakneck pace, forcing VR and 360-video producers - not to mention consumers - to constantly adapt.
Here is what some of those in the trenches had to say about VR and 360 video and how they would advise others considering it.
The New York Times has helped expose VR to the masses by producing a host of content and distributing Google Cardboard to subscribers in October. What does the NYT's 2016 VR roadmap look like?
Sam Dolnick, associate editor, New York Times, an early evangelist for VR at the Times: Going forward this year, we still think that we have a chance at such a new medium so early that we are approaching every film we do as the first [VR] film our audience is ever going to see. We are keeping that wow factor every time. I think that's going to be very powerful for at least this year.
The New York Times distributed Google Cardboard to subscribers in October in an effort to grow its virtual-reality footprint.
Last year, we sent a crew with a VR rig to shoot the Paris vigils. Within five days, we had posted this, so it was our first breaking-news VR video. That is something that really resonated and something we're excited about. We will be pushing that hard this year, and we think we can go faster and faster.
How can creatives navigate the technological challenges currently facing VR production and distribution?
Jessica Brillhart, principal VR filmmaker, Google: People only have one first time for virtual reality. If it's not good, then they are going to [abandon it]. Creators are running against a lot of [technology challenges]. There is constant attention on the technology being able to play back content as well as possible. We are trying to put this stuff on phones that aren't built for VR, but we're trying to make it work. There are different headsets: you can have headsets that are just fine and easy to distribute [content to], or there are amazing high-fidelity headsets, but they are really expensive. The best thing we can do is continue to push and create and have that conversation with technology from a content standpoint so we can push it to be better.
How have consumers reacted to NYT's VR content, and can you provide insight into their VR-viewing habits?
Dolnick: We have seen the biggest spikes [in viewing], of course, on the launch day, but the next two were on Thanksgiving Day and on Christmas. It's easy to see why. Although it can feel kind of solitary alone in your little box, it's actual for sharing. We heard dozens of stories of people showing grandma, their nephews, and passing it around the table. We are really excited about this notion of communal viewing, and we think that is going to happen more and more.
How key is the development and high-quality live VR content to the overall success of the format?
Trevor Guthrie, co-founder, marketing agency Giant Spoon: I don't think we have seen a good live example [of VR], which is such a key thing for a marketer. We really haven't seen a good use case for live VR. Live is not about the content feeding at you at that moment; it's actually about the communal experience of what live means. So I think, as a marketer, we are trying to figure out what are those social moments that make VR necessary to connect a group of people.
The Times' 360-degree short film Displaced, which went inside the EU refugee crisis, has been one of the most talked-about VR pieces. What went into its production?
Dolnick: We see this as journalism, as storytelling, as a new way for The New York Times to bring the world to our readers, which is what we have always done. [For the refugee-crisis film], we spent a lot of time asking what is VR for and why do we tell this story in VR? What the film does is place you in the refugee camps and the lives of children living in war zones. But what it doesn't do is explain how we got here and why this crisis unfolded.
We found that it's really hard to put context into the films. What VR is powerful at is placing you somewhere you've never been before, so we doubled down on that and then used other channels - the Magazine cover story - to explain the historical roots of this crisis. If we had tried to jam that into the film, I think it would have been far less effective. We focused on placing you there and feeling it in a visceral way and then we are going to explain it to you through another platform. When you have all these mediums - photography, video, text, VR - using each one in the most effective way is really key.
GE launched its first VR experience at the end of 2014 and partnered with the Times' T Brand Studio to produce its How Nature Is Inspiring Our Industrial Future 360/virtual-reality experience for Google Cardboard in November. Why is GE embracing VR,
