StoryFutures Academy Credits and Resources

  • StoryFutures
  • December 13th 2020
Our guest speakers for episode 1

Episode 1 - Making Immersive Stories: What is the future of storytelling?

Credits

Presenter: Shehani Fernando
Producers: Chris Hogg & Shehani Fernando
Executive Producer: Will Saunders
Assistant Producer: Max Bower
Editing and sound design: John Wakefield & Matt McGuinness
The title track is ‘A Thousand Years’ by David A Molina
Additional music by Neil Cullen
Clips from 1943 Berlin Blitz courtesy of the BBC
Clips from Common Ground, courtesy of East City Films
Other clips from our introductory montage courtesy of The Guardian, NASA, Common Ground

Resources

For more information on things discussed in the episode, see the links below:

Story Futures Academy - The National Centre for Immersive Storytelling
StoryFutures - funded by the government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund
You can see 1943 Berlin Blitz, courtesy of the BBC
Find out more about Darren Emerson’s experience, Common Ground by East City Films

Our guests for Episode 2

Episode 2 - Making Immersive Stories: Getting Started

This week, we look at how to take your first tentative steps into making immersive content and thinking spatially. But where do you begin? Do you jump into a game engine, or go up into the loft to find your old lego? To help us decide, we’ve enlisted the help of Kim Leigh Pontin, Creative Director at Nexus Studios and Verity Mcintosh, Senior Lecturer in Virtual and Extended Realities at the University of West of England.

Credits

Presenter: Shehani Fernando
Producers: Chris Hogg & Shehani Fernando
Executive Producer: Will Saunders
Assistant Producer: Max Bower
Editing and sound design: John Wakefield & Matt McGuinness
The title track is ‘A Thousand Years’ by David A Molina
Additional music: Neil Cullen
Additional music: ‘Algea Tender’ by Blue Dot Sessions courtesy of the Free Music Archive

Resources

For more information on things discussed, see the links below:

Virtual Love Islands by Ellie Richold
MA in virtual and extended realities at University of the West of England
Pervasive Media Studio Bristol
Nexus Studios
Discovery of Witches - Hiding in Plain Sight VR Piece:
Britannia VR - Out of your mind
3D drawing tools: Tilt Brush & Quill
3D asset creation tool Medium
Game engines: Unity & Unreal
Volumetric capture: Depthkit & Dimension Studios
Experiences: Draw Me Close, Vestige, Zero Days
Preloaded’s Guide to AR

Our guests for Episode 3

Episode 3 - Making Immersive Stories: Augmented Reality

With the worldwide value of the Augmented Reality market set to exceed $50 billion by 2024, our guests this week help us to understand what forces are driving this dramatic growth, and what opportunities there are for immersive storytellers like yourself. Webegin with Alex Fleetwood, Head of Studio at Niantic London, the company behind Harry Potter’s Wizard’s Unite and the worldwide phenomenon that is Pokémon Go. We’re also joined by Susan Cummings and Taavi Kelle who are going to take us on a Bristol-based ARadventure with Wallace and Gromit.

With Alex Fleetwood of Niantic, and Susan Cummings and Taavi Kelle, from Fictioneers.

Alex Fleetwood,Head of Niantic's London Studio - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexfleetwood?originalSubdomain=uk,
Susan Cummings - https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanicummings/
https://blooloop.com/news/aardman-animations-ar-wallace-gromit/
Taavi Kelle - https://www.linkedin.com/in/taavikelle/

Credits

Presenter: Shehani Fernando,
Producers: Chris Hogg & Shehani Fernando,
Assistant Producer: Max Bower,
Executive Producer: Will Saunders,
Editing and sound design: John Wakefield & Matt McGuinness,
The title track is: ‘A Thousand Years’ by David A Molina,
Additional music: Neil Cullen & 'Time to Leave' by Ketsa, courtesy of the Free Music Archive

Resources

Niantic: https://nianticlabs.com/en/@nianticLabs
Pokémon Go: https://pokemongolive.com/en/@pokemongoapp
Pokémon Go Fest https://pokemongolive.com/en/events/fest/2020/
Tiny Rebel Games: https://www.tinyrebelgames.com/@tinyrebelgames
Fictioneers www.fictioneers.co.uk@fictioneersLtd
The Big Fix Up: https://www.thebigfixup.co.uk/@thebigfixup
Beasts of Balance: https://beastsofbalance.com/@beastsofbalance
Spark AR - https://sparkar.facebook.com/ar-studio/
Snapchat Lens Studio - https://lensstudio.snapchat.com/
Niantic Real World Platform - https://nianticlabs.com/en/blog/nrwp-update-110619/
Niantic Creator Platform -https://niantic.dev/

Special Thanks to Fictioneers and Aardman and Niantic for use of sound clips in this episode.

Our guests for Episode 4

Episode 4 - Making Immersive Stories: The Producer’s Role

An immersive producer is a key role in any XR project - so what does it take to become one yourself? What are the nuts and bolts of delivering a project to budget, and what technical knowledge do you need to be able to translate what clients want to developers? This week we have two guests that have worked on some ground-breaking immersive projects, Katie Grayson from Passion Experience, and executive producer Zillah Watson. Both of them share their top tips on the different phases of production and discuss the making of the BBC’s Emmy-nominated ‘Dr Who: The Runaway’.

With Zillah Watson and Katie Grayson

Zillah Watson, Executive Producer, https://www.linkedin.com/in/zillahwatson/

Katie Grayson, Passion Pictures, https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-grayson-42b8447/

Credits:

Presenter: Shehani Fernando
Producers: Chris Hogg & Shehani Fernando
Assistant Producer: Max Bower
Executive Producer: Will Saunders
Editing and sound design: John Wakefield & Matt McGuinness
The title track is: ‘A Thousand Years’ by David A Molina
Additional music: Neil Cullen

Thanks:

Clips from Congo VR and Dr Who: The Runaway, courtesy of the BBC
Clip from Critical Distance courtesy of Vision 3
Thanks to Satore Studios for use of the Swan AR clip

Resources:

Passion Pictures - http://www.passion-pictures.com/experience/ @passionpictures
BBC’s Congo VR Piece: https://canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk/congo-vr/
Dr Who: The Runaway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RPe6aNiotA
Hololens 2: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens/buy
Critical Distance: https://www.vision3.tv/VR-3D-projects/post.php?permalink=critical-distance
Satore Studios: https://satorestudio.com/ @satorestudio
Guide to virtual production: https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/virtual-production

Our guests for Episode 5

Episode 5 - Making Immersive Stories: Writing for Characters in VR

This week, we're talking about the role of writers in immersive storytelling. Some of the biggest IP on the planet is beginning to wake up to the possibilities that virtual reality can offer. In the last few years, both Star Wars and Doctor Who have launched VR experiences. Writers are going to have an increasingly important role in the creation of new character-led experiences. This episode brings together the sage voices of Adam Ganz, Head of the Writer's Room at the StoryFutures Academy, Kerry Kolbe a TV writer who is making the leap into writing for VR, and finally Russ Harding, the man entrusted by the producers of Peaky Blinders to bring the world of 1920's Birmingham onto a headset near you.

Credits:

Professor Adam Ganz, Royal Holloway, University of London https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-ganz-41774b2/
Kerry Kolbe, writer https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-kolbe-518189a/?originalSubdomain=uk
Russ Harding, Maze Theory
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russharding/
Presenter: Shehani Fernando
Producers: Chris Hogg & Shehani Fernando
Assistant Producer: Max Bower
Executive Producer: Will Saunders
Editing and sound design: John Wakefield & Matt McGuinness
The title track is: ‘A Thousand Years’ by David A Molina
Additional music: Neil Cullen

Special Thanks:

Peaky Blinders clip provided courtesy of Caryn Mandabach Productions
Drowned Man clip courtesy of Punchdrunk

Resources:

SFA Writer’s Room: https://www.storyfutures.com/academy/experiment/writers-room
Peaky Blinders: https://peakyblinders.tv
Maze Theory: https://www.maze-theory.com/projects
Punchdrunk: https://www.punchdrunk.org.uk/
Playstation VR Worlds: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/playstation-vr-worlds/

Our guests for Episode 6

Episode 6 - Making Immersive Stories: Audience Insight

Whether the first immersive experience you are making is for people in their living rooms or launching at a museum, understanding how your story is going to be experienced and who you're going to target is a huge question that should be dealt with upfront rather than after you've built it. This week we enlist the help of Catherine Allen from Limina Immersive, Executive Producer, Zillah Watson and our own Dr Laryssa Whittaker from StoryFutures to find out exactly what questions you should be asking your audience and how to attract more people to your content.

With Dr Laryssa Whittaker, Catherine Allen and Zillah Watson

Dr. Laryssa Whittaker, Research Fellow, StoryFutures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/la...
Catherine Allen, CEO, Limina Immersive
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ca...
Zillah Watson, Executive Producer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zi...

Credits:

Presenter: Shehani Fernando
Producers: Chris Hogg & Shehani Fernando
Assistant Producer: Max Bower
Executive Producer: Will Saunders
Editing and sound design: John Wakefield & Matt McGuinness
The title track is ‘A Thousand Years’ by David A Molina
Additional music: Plate Synthesis by Blue Dot Sessions courtesy of Free Music Archive

We would like to thank the National Gallery for allowing us to use the Gregorian Chants from the Virtual Veronese Project: It was sung by Veneti Cantores Choir, whom we also wish to thank.
The music is an extract from the liturgy for Ash Wednesday, from the manuscript: Mantua, Archivio Storico Diocesano, A2, 1561.

Resources:


Virtual Veronese:
https://www.storyfutures.com/n...
Beyond the early adopter: widening the appeal for virtual reality by Catherine Allen (Dec 2020)
https://pec.ac.uk/policy-brief...
The Immersive Audience Journey Report (July 2020)
https://audienceofthefuture.li...
Audience testing resource
https://medium.com/pintsizedro...
StoryFutures Research
https://www.storyfutures.com/s...
BBC’s distribution through libraries VR Project - https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacen...

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