Toronto, Ontario, March 19, 2015 – YouTube made headlines last week adding support for immersive 360° videos. This move could very well put the video streaming giant into a position to become the ‘YouTube of Virtual Reality'. "360° content creators are excited for the consumer launches of VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR, but I'm more excited about YouTube supporting immersive films," says Ian Tuason, Producer at VR video production company, DimensionGate Inc. "YouTube's audience is already massive and hungry for horror, action and sci-fi content--ideal genres for immersive experiences." This week, DimensionGate launched YouTube's first 360° short horror film titled "3am", marking one of the first attempts at creating scripted, dramatic content on this new medium.
"I've seen countless demos showcasing 360° video capabilities with subjects skydiving and skateboarding, but I'm more concerned about the storytelling capabilities of the medium," continues Tuason. "No matter how cool the demo or how impressive the technology, if the content doesn't tell a story, then there's no point to the experience."
DimensionGate is scheduled to launch more scripted VR content on YouTube throughout the year, as well as on mobile and VR headsets. With Facebook purchasing the Oculus Rift in 2014, and Samsung Gear VR boasting a Spring 2015 release of a consumer product, the race to create VR content is on. "Cinematic VR is an entirely new language, and today's filmmakers are writing it,” continues Tuason. “VR filmmakers are developing new techniques like directional audio and visual cues to guide audiences through a story as opposed to simply showing it to them. Orson Welles and Akira Kurosawa experimented with the parameters of cinema many decades ago, shaping cinema as we know it today, and now, VR filmmakers are experimenting with entirely new parameters, shaping the frontier of what could become the medium of the future.”
For more upcoming 360° horror, action and sci-fi films, subscribe to DimensionGate's YouTube channel.