Be able to control the course of films yourself

The interactive VR short film Broken Night demonstrates this. Viewers can influence the course of the action with their eyes without interruption. The producers want to reach a new level of film consumption.

In the 360° Live Action short film Broken Night a traumatised woman is interrogated by an inspector. Previously, she and her husband had caught a burglar red-handed in their house. At certain points in her account, two possible subsequent scenes with different action consequences appear in the viewer's field of vision. The viewer selects one of these with a movement of the head or with his gaze and in this way influences the wife's memory, the dialogue and thus the course of the film.

More involvement and more emotions

The decisions reflect her confused memory and show that she cannot reflect the traumatic event without contradictions. During these decisions, the audience experiences the same emotional confusion as the characters, according to screenwriter Alex Black.

The interactive short film starring Hollywood actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola premiered at New York's Tribeca Film Festival in April. The European film premiere took place during the Cannes International Film Festival.

Video game and Hollywood film in one

Behind the innovative eight-minute VR drama is the Media and technology company Ekowhich develops programmes for interactive video entertainment. Eko promises live-action videos that are give dynamic feedback just like video games, but at the same time appeal to the viewer emotionally like a Hollywood film.

Active participant instead of passive consumer

Artists and film writers are just beginning to explore the exciting new world of virtual reality. Passive consumers are to become more and more active participants in the story.

Consumers can influence the course of the action in a variety of ways, including clicking, swiping, voice recognition, eye tracking or VR controllers. So it's more than just moving your head 360° and that's why it's called live-action VR. Even the viewer's geo-position and purchase history can affect the videos.

Incidentally, it is not yet known when the interactive VR short film Broken Night will be made available to the general public.

Source: VR World / Broken Night VR