The aesthetics of reality media

TLDR

Technical affordances are part of a complex mediation process that blends experimentation with the technology and reliance on earlier media forms. The article examines immersion aesthetics in 360° video and 3D VR, aiming to move beyond technical affordances to analyze producers’ techniques and the resulting viewing effects. The authors illustrate the tension between transparency and reflectivity using two examples: Makropol’s Anthropia (2017) and Arora and Unseld’s The Day the World Changed (2018). They argue that grasping the creative tension between established and new forms is essential for understanding the novel aesthetic and narrative experiences in VR and 360° formats.

Abstract

In this article, the authors examine the aesthetics of immersion in two emerging media forms: 360° video and 3D VR. Their goal is to move beyond addressing technical affordances, to consider the techniques and choices that producers of 360° video and 3D VR are making to exploit these affordances, and what resulting effects those viewing experiences have. They discuss the tension between transparency and reflectivity in two contrasting examples, in particular: the Danish company Makropol’s Anthropia (2017) and Arora and Unseld’s The Day the World Changed (2018). The authors argue that technical affordances are part of a complex process of mediation that includes both experimentation with the technology at hand and a reliance on earlier media forms. It is critical, they argue, to understand the creative tension between established forms and new ones that underscore new aesthetic and narrative experiences in VR and 360° formats.