DRUM ROLL PLEASE…………………………….We are absolutely thrilled to announce the winner of our SF3 People’s Choice Award for our 2021 Season…and the winner is Nico Piro for ‘Today I Will Live’. We couldn’t ask for a better film to win, we love this documentary about the forgotten victims of a forgotten war, as Nico describes the war in Afghanistan himself. Congrats Nico and may you stay safe and continue to share these incredible stories with the world.
When we die where do we go? Does it matter when we view what we will miss? What inspired the film? Where do we go has been a concept I’ve been developing into a narrative since my father’s suicide in 2012. The film seeks to answer the questions I had when thinking about my father’s passing. The main purpose of the film is to teach folks who are in a dark place and what they are missing out on if they choose to end their life. I understand that suicide and mental health are complex issues that cannot be solved in a three-minute 360-degree film, but as a filmmaker, this story is one of the few ways I know of to help others in the way that I was unable to help my father.
How the film was made? An Insta one x was used to film and edit the shots of people and exterior sceneries. The majority of the footage is actually a collection of images captured when I was with my family and friends. I tried to capture my happiest memories on film. The POV perspective that places the spectator in a coffin was the most dramatic scene and the most difficult to film. The scene was made by a coffin-shaped box lined with a tissue box cover and adjusted to fit the Insta one x inside.
Director’s Biography My name is Rein Turley. I spent the first four years of my career working in television, including four years as a news director for ABC News 24. My father committed suicide in 2012 and my perspective on death has shifted dramatically since then. Since leaving television, I’ve worked in community development with a focus on educating and facilitating the use of new and emerging technology. I love telling stories through 360 filmmaking because I believe that there is no greater empathy device then seeing through the eyes of another in virtual reality.
Check out our 2nd SF360 Finalist, Steel City by Max Schleser from Melbourne, Australia.
Industrial past colliding with artistic futures
Where the river Rhein and Ruhr intersect in Germany, you will find Duisburg. This former industrial city is known for bad football, mafia shootings and the Love Parade disaster. While the heavy industry, which brought prosperity to the port town in the 50s and 60s, has demised with the Strukturwandel in the 1980s, steel is still shaping its landscape.
This Cinematic VR experience portrays the city’s public art, the Rhine Orange, Landschaftspark, Love Parade memorial and Tiger Turtle – Magic Mountain through audio-visual abstraction. As a kaleidoscope brings new perspectives into interaction through reflection, Steel City aims to change the stereotypical representation of this post-industrial region. By means of using an accelerometer microphone, the sound of these steel sculptures was recorded and provided inspiration for the visual treatment of the video artwork.
Kaleidoscope translates from ancient Greek for observation in beautiful form. Max Schleser captured these public artworks with an omnidirectional video camera and Simon Longo/Dithernoise’s original soundscape for this audio-visual experience is based on the field recordings. The Cinematic VR experience as much as the public artworks, display the dialectic of change and stagnation.
Spatial audio encoding by Darius Kedros at Sonic State Design in the Garden Studio Melbourne. Please enjoy with headphones. Available as Third Order Ambisonics on request.
Have you seen our SF360 Finalists yet? To kick off our Festival week we have CROSS by Juan Pablo Urgilés Becerra of Imán Transmedia from Pichincha , Ecuador.
CROSS is an immersive and transmedia experience that uses documentary, 360 video, virtual reality, investigative journalism, and participation to raise society’s awareness of human mobility and the flow of Venezuelan migrants and refugees. It tells the story of Agny, a Venezuelan woman who crosses Ecuador to reunite with her cousin to work with him and get the money she needs to regroup her children.