The East Centre kicked off its busy season of autumn events with “TV futures: Virtually there”, a talk by Dr Nick Lodge, former head of strategic R&D and international standards at the ITC and RTS Fellow, generously hosted by the University of East Anglia.
Covering a lot of ground from the humble cathode-ray tube to the latest 8k displays, Lodge explained what it takes to make a production truly immersive – so the scene feels as real as if viewers were seeing it with their own eyes.
The viewers’ vision is filled with what’s playing out before them; cuts, mixes and zooms don’t make sense in this environment. The production needs to find other ways to lead them from one scene to the next.
It’s not just about what viewers see, though. Sound, sensations of motion and even smell and touch all combine to draw them in to an absorbing experience. The trick is to avoid any stimulus that breaks the spell, either within the production or in the viewing environment.
An appreciative audience also heard about the problems of working on a 360-degree film, where everything, including the crew, is in shot, and how, in the near future, we could be experiencing these immersive productions in our own homes.
