The Spring is an action drama shot in 360 3D VR inside a cave. Al Caudullo explains the cameras, stitching and storytelling choices behind the VR film.
The Spring is an action-drama filmed in 360 3D VR. Three female cave explorers set out, dropping down thru a pit to a cave with an underground river. The seemingly harmless adventure turns deadly as the underground river suddenly floods. Our trio of spelunkers are forced to go deeper into the labyrinth of caves to make their escape via, The Spring, a rumored but unexplored exit.
The first question, of many questions, that I had for Greg Passmore was, ‘ When you are shooting a 3D 360 degree VR movie in a cave where at times you are perilously close to the top of the caves due to the water level, what do you do with the crew?’
His reply threw me off guard. He said, ‘anywhere I want’. It was then that he told me he was shooting with one RED EPIC camera.
How?
Greg realized two things during the pre-production process of the film.
First, this story would make a fantastic virtual reality movie.
Second, it would be impossible to shoot this with a traditional multi-camera VR Rig. For one thing, the only place for the 8-10 crew to go during a take would be underwater. For another, the near claustrophobic tiny crawl spaces that would need to be navigated would simply not accommodate the VR Rig.
The obvious answer was, with such a controllable space, to shoot everything in panels.
Passmore Labs is an awarding winning studio, working in the world of 3D multi-camera and 3D conversion. So Greg is no stranger to inventing his own workflow and, in this case, creating his own proprietary Spherical compositing software to ‘stitch’ the elements of the 8 camera views together. Don’t think for an instant this was an easy process, lens calibration and filling in areas and warp correction, are just a few of the hurdles that needed to be overcome.
The next challenge was lighting in a water filled confined space. In order to achieve a film quality dynamic range in the shots would require a delicate balance. They needed to be intensely bright and there really wasn’t any place to out them. Actual caving lights emit a very low lumen light, insufficient for filming. The only choice was to create their own ‘caving’ lights. The actors actually wore them on their heads. Extra planning went into the direction of the actors to not only deliver their lines but to also properly light the scene.
I asked Greg about using Super Speed Zeiss Lenses, but he explained the need for a deep depth of field which those lenses don’t offer. He needed to be able to stop down 2 1/2 to 3 stops to achieve the proper near infinite depth of field. I used a variety of lenses. Everything from the Peleng fisheye to the much nicer Zeiss Super Speed 35 (since we do panels).
Audio presented another complex set of challenges. Keeping the microphones dry, for one. Plus the acoustics of a water filled cave are far from ideal. Special waterproof cases were utilized with small inflatable boats.
As for DIT, Greg has a mobile production trailer/studio that he travels to a location with. The software has reached the point where he can ingest the raw files natively. Then the composite is built with the exported files feeding into an Oculus Rift for reviewing the days’ shoot.
The footage is being turned into VR movie by using software (PAM360) especially written for this process. Greg has been developing this software, with his team, for almost a year. PAM360 will be distributed by startup Poison Apple Media (poison apple.media). The site is not operational yet in English but should be finished soon.
The principal photography is complete, with B-roll expected to be completed very soon.
Post Production is being handled at Passmore Studios in Austin, Texas. We have not finalized distribution since this is such a rapidly changing landscape. The official release is at E3 at the Immerex booth. Immerex describes themselves as a company that, “…engineer and create immersive end-to-end virtual reality entertainment experiences. We are a team of creative technologists, passionate inventors, ingenious cinema producers, decisive financial investors, and avid problem solvers, all of which fit perfectly with creating next generation immersive entertainment. engineer and create immersive end-to-end virtual reality entertainment experiences. We are a team of creative technologists, passionate inventors, ingenious cinema producers, decisive financial investors, and avid problem solvers, all of which fit perfectly with creating next generation immersive entertainment.”
E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo, an annual trade fair held in Los Angeles every year is especially for the video game industry. Virtual Reality has it’s roots firmly entrenched in video games but it is gaining ground with non-gamers for its ability to immerse you in the story.
The finished film will be two versions, a 10-minute version, and a 3-minute version. Right now with VR that is feature length. Longer and more involved features will most likely follow as the technology moves forward. The complexity of longer VR movies and the ability for the audience to stay immersed are still questions yet to be answered. Time undoubtedly will tell.
Greg’s rationale was summed up with this statement, ‘If we start with something hard, and survive it. We can then say, alright great, now we can do the easy stuff.’ ‘I really wanted to try something with some teeth, and this particular film was challenging because the physical environment as well as the filming issues. If VR really has this ability to create this intimate sense of space and feeling, then this was the perfect environment to show that off.’ Lowel Blender kits bring flexibility and speed to Run-and-Gun lighting, with its ability to quickly change color to suit the ambient light of the location. Simply dial it until its combined daylight and tungsten LED output looks right to you. Whether you match the location perfectly, or give your subject a little contrasting color to help them stand out better, Blender is easy to carry and easy to use. For more information about Blender kit options, visit Chimera Video Pro Lightbanks are the industry standard for continuous lighting fixtures under 2,000W. Chosen by lighting professionals worldwide, the Video Pro line offers durable quality and immense versatility when it comes to shaping light. Collapsible Fabric Grids, Fabric Barndoors, interchangeable screens, and metal honeycomb grids all offer you the ability to shape light to a wide variety of qualities. For more information about Chimera lightbanks, visit
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