--
VRTOV producer Katy Morrison on creating VR content --
Mon, 15 Feb 2016 11:26
--
SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: Producer Katy Morrison and director Oscar Raby are the co-founders of an Australian virtual reality (VR) focussed digital production company called VRTOV. In recent years VR has extended its reach beyond the gaming world as a platform for storytelling and entertainment content. As a designer in this genre, Morrison shares with Screen Africa how the medium has the potential to offer audiences a unique immersive experience.
How is VR changing the way people experience films?
Virtual reality is changing the way that people experience all types of content - from films, to games, to health applications and corporate training. What I see as the difference that virtual reality offers is that it requires the audience to be active in the way they consume the content. They literally cant sit like a couch potato - they have to move, they have to look around in order to experience the story. I think that simple factor will have a tremendous effect on the way that storytellers craft narratives for virtual reality, and for audiences, it means that whatever content they are watching it s something that exists in that form only for them. No one else will see the story exactly that way, because no one else will look at exactly the same points they did, in the same order, for exactly the same amount of time. It s a very personal medium.
How does this affect the audience s relationship with characters?
Theres a lot of talk about empathy in VR, and people tend to lend VR this magical ability to generate empathy just because it s VR. I dont think thats the case at all. I think that what VR gives you is a sense of yourself within a story or a narrative - so I think it s less about an ability to empathise with other characters, and more about an ability to imagine yourself there with them.
How does this affect the filmmakers approach to storytelling? Would scenes or characters be featured or framed differently to how they are traditionally in films?
We are all still discovering what things work in VR and what things dont work, and I think well definitely go through a period of inventing rules that someone then breaks and we all realise its brilliant and we wonder why we ever had that rule in the first place - like talking in movies.
What I think at the moment were learning to do, is to imagine our stories less as films, and more as theatre plays where the audience member is on stage along with the actors. So things that we take for granted in cinema, like jump cuts and close ups, are things that dont necessarily translate to VR. Instead of a close up to indicate an emotional moment, we have to do it another way, a more theatrical way, through intensity of performance, or changes of the lighting and music.
What are some footage requirements when producing VR content?
I work with content that is generated from 3D scans, put together in a piece of software that people use to make computer games. It s a completely different way of working to filming something for TV or cinema, even though thats my background.
How would a filmmaker go about creating a virtual reality film?
There are a couple of methods of creating VR content. One is the fully 3D method, like the one that we use. As a documentary studio we still capture our story from reality - but instead of using a camera we use a 3D scanner and then bring all of our scans into a game engine such as Unity and create a fully 3D space where the story takes place. Our audience member is then able to inhabit that space in the VR experience - and because the experience is made in a game engine, we can give them quite a lot of autonomy. They can, if we want, move around where they want to, perhaps interact with the environment or change things. These are things that we could never do with traditional films, so it s quite an exciting way of working.
The other way of making VR content is using an array of cameras that point in all directions - think of a ball of GoPros. You then take all that footage and stitch it together into a sphere that the audience member stands in the centre of, once they are inside the VR experience. They take the place that the ball of cameras took during filming, and they are able to see what the cameras saw.
What are some of the necessary tools and equipment needed for creating this kind of content?
We use 3D scanners, photographic cameras and game development software. All of which is quite affordable and nowhere near the outlay required for a broadcast standard video camera, for example.
Are there any technical challenges in this new medium?
Lots! But the most interesting challenges are not the technical ones. Rather, they are about the language - like what kinds of stories can we tell in VR, and how best to tell them.
Related Articles
Al Jazeera launches new audio service app targeting low-bandwidth regions in AfricaAl Jazeera Media Network has launched a new audio web app that will give users in low- bandwidth regions access...
Read more...
ShowMax adds downloads for iPhones and iPadsShowMax has added download functionality for iPhones and iPads. This feature allows users to store movies...
Read more...
AJ launches new digital experienceAJ has launched a new digital experience. This marks its first step in making content available through an app...
Read more...
-- --
-- --
-- Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. comments powered by Disqus
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
08/12/2025
DENVER MediaKind, a global provider of cloud-based video streaming technology announced today that it is acquiring the video business of Harmonic Inc. for appro...
08/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsen has announced that its Audience Segments from Nielsen Marketing Cloud (NMC) are now available across the Amazon Ads marketplace, including the ...
08/12/2025
Marshall Electronics showcases the CV355-27X-ND3 Optical Zoom NDI (NDI HX2, NDI HX3) Camera at ISE 2026 (Booth 4N900). Designed for users seeking high-quality ...
08/12/2025
Cinnafilm today announced the immediate availability of IPx LIVE and Tachyon LIVE, delivering broadcast-grade, real-time IP video transcoding and motion-compens...
08/12/2025
Following a successful 45th anniversary year in 2024, Hiltron reports increasing demand for its wide range of satellite communication equipment manufacturing, p...
08/12/2025
Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh is the first celebrity to be revealed for the s...
08/12/2025
Changing children's lives for good: A staggering 4.6 million raised in the 2025 appeal
The people of Ireland and people all over the world have once again...
08/12/2025
It's murder on the dancefloor as The Traitors Ireland legend Paudie Moloney ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
-- 
