This Virtual Reality Film Lets You Experience Apocalypse Firsthand – Observer

Virtual realitywhen done rightcan transport viewers to another world. Artist and director Arjan van Meertens newest film made specifically for VR, which debuted last week at the Tribeca Film Festivals Virtual Arcade, takes viewers to the edge and beyondliterally. Apex, which is van Meertens highly anticipated follow-up to his 2015 virtual reality music video Surge, puts the viewer right smack in the middle of theapocalypse, as it unfolds. Or at least thats what it felt like to me when I gave a whirl, on what was only my second time usinga VRheadset.

The directors new title, which was created separatelyfrom his more commercial animation work, was a partnership with his Amsterdam-baseddigital animation studio House of Secrets,Los Angeles VRcompany Wevrand Portlands Kaleidoscope VR. Venturing into VR was a logical thing to try to experiment with it, he told me by phone. VR, he said, allows viewers to see animations in a whole new way.

Van Meerten spent his youth entrenchedin theMetal scene, he tells me. The energy that the audience experiences at concerts, coupled with the fact the genre still makes up the core of his musical tastes served asthe foundation of bothSurge and Apex. But while the music for Apex, which van Meerten composed himself, is not Metal in the traditional sense and leans more towards Electronica, theres still a furious, rapturous energy thats palpable when paired withhis arresting visuals.

His inspiration for thosevisuals came from many places. but creatinga new kind of music video was his primary goal. He cites music videos by Aphex Twins and Radiohead as inspiration.In van Meertens fieryworld, a cityscape is engulfed by an exploding sun, fire tears through the urban landscapes streets and tunnels as creatures big and small scurry for cover, and a giant figure takes a walk like Godzilla above burning buildings. The, a dark, amorphous form envelops the viewer, passing through and eventually swallowing you up entirely. Apex is more than just a360, 3D animation; its a full-body experiencethat pushes the bounds of whats possiblewith VR.

While Apex features predictably familiar apocalyptic tropesfire, explosions and darknessvan Meerten also throws a heavy dose of more abstract forms into the mix.I tend to stay away from global symbolism, hesaid. [I] try to speak to the imagination of the viewerI wanted to choose images that are familiar (the deer, blocks figures) but more alien.

While I had the fortune of experiencing Apex firsthand at the festival,VR headsets have yet to become popular with the mass market as tech likesmartphones or smartwatches. At this moment its [VR] still really inaccessible and expensive. Eventually it will be more accessible, as mobile phones are getting better and stronger, says van Meerten. The director hopes that as interest grows in the technology, there will be more opportunities for his work, and that of his peers, to be viewed almost anywhere. At this moment Apex wont run on any phone because its too heavy on the graphics side. But it be wont be long before phones can run this and you can walk around with a small headset and daydream in VR.

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This Virtual Reality Film Lets You Experience Apocalypse Firsthand - Observer