The Empathy Machine is a Sci-Fi 360 Noir Virtual Reality Murder Mystery film experience.
Shot at The Roundhouse Theatre, London the cast of two actors plays out all seven noir characters.
There is a sense of foul play when the viewer (an amnesiac detective) awakens to find his detective partner dead. Who is responsible for his death? In this immersive 360 whodunnit thriller, the detective (viewer) pieces together clues from the characters who present themselves throughout the narrative, in order that the mystery of the killer be revealed!
Inspired by meeting Forensics Lecturer and Psychotherapist Jennifer Rees, along with the discovery of plans to rehabilitate criminal masterminds and Psychopaths with computer games, this short noir 360 drama explores a future use of VR beyond pure cinematic entertainment.
In this stand-alone 8-minute VR experience, David Lynch’s world collides with Lars Von Trier’s Dogville. The viewer is the central detective character in the drama and the action unfolds around you like an immersive theatre performance.
How are these riddlesome characters connected? Who put your partner in the morgue? Will you avenge your partner’s death? Is there something more ominous looming behind the cinematic experience?
This film is an exploration both in the cinematic production of VR (shooting with 1940s and 50s noir lighting techniques in this modern medium) as well as questioning the nature of VR in a sci-fi dystopian future.
The practicalities of shooting two actors playing all seven parts was a bamboozling technical production puzzle, solved by creating a timed lighting set up akin to those used in live theatre productions.
Technically it was a first in 360 – shooting each of the character’s gloomy worlds in separate sections, and keeping the lighting set-up constant throughout the shoot for a smooth 360 edit during the compositing post-production stage.
Filmed at and in partnership with The Roundhouse Theatre, London, We Are Familia Films production company, Floss Creatives and Grand Central Sound Studios.
