VR needs talent

The BBC this week ordered a property makeover show with virtual reality (VR) at its core. The UK pubcaster’s head of VR content commissioning, Zillah Watson, asks whether VR is more about writing than tech.

Alice is an interactive virtual take on Alice in Wonderland
in which users become the titular character

VR offers writers undreamed-of possibilities. As Mathias Chelebourg puts it: “Think of the classic horror shot in cinema. You’re in the living room and you can’t see the monster coming from the hall. But in VR you can lean around the door and look in the hall.”

Chelebourg was speaking at a BBC Writersroom and BBC VR Hub writing workshop – an event held with the aim of introducing a new generation of talented writers to the challenges of writing for VR.

VR is often portrayed in terms of technical advances. But to achieve its creative potential as a storytelling medium, it needs great writers too. BBC television drama evolved in a similar way – from its earliest days with static cameras capturing theatrical productions to creating specially written TV productions. Those came out of creative experimentation, using technological advancements that allowed ambitious shooting, cutting and mixing. VR can win huge audiences in the same way, by harnessing cutting-edge technology to the best storytelling.

Zillah Watson

Today, VR is still highly experimental and constantly evolving, but the technology is improving fast. VR is now ready for the creativity of writers who have learnt their craft in other worlds including theatre, film, TV, radio and games. For some genres, such as documentary, there is some understanding of how to create compelling VR content. But drama – and scripted drama in particular – needs more experimentation to redefine it for VR. This means making better use of techniques only possible in VR, such as fully immersing viewers in other worlds with which they can interact.

And there’s much to experiment with, because VR comes in many forms. The biggest distinction is between interactive (game-like) and non-interactive (film-like). Interactive VR is usually delivered in a game engine – a CGI world generated in real time, which you can walk around in and alter by your actions. Non-interactive is often live action, filmed with 360-degree cameras, but can be a ‘baked’ CGI world, or animated/drawn, or any other visual style you might find in film. Scripted stories can be delivered with either approach.

Although we are trying to provide writers with useful pointers to help them adapt their writing to the needs and possibilities of VR, Chelebourg was keen to stress there are no rules and that experimentation is vital: “VR is evolving. Keep watching VR. Keep trying experiments. If you think you can’t do something in VR, someone will be doing it and it will be working.”

Mathias Chelebourg

Chelebourg, based in Paris, has worked in VR since 2012 and has written and directed a range of VR experiences, including commercial work for brands. Recently he has created some high-end drama experiences that merge immersive theatre with VR, such as Alice – a virtual take on Alice in Wonderland where you become Alice and interact with characters played by actresses using live motion capture techniques.

For Chelebourg, VR does not change writing. Instead, it has added a series of new tools to staging and editing. That includes compelling interactions within a narrative. He uses a variety of scripting techniques for VR, from storyboarding with images for films, through to detailed scene-by-scene descriptions breaking down each moment into character, environment and interactions.

There were plenty of other perspectives too at the workshop. Game writer Rob Morgan offered some important advice on a fundamental shift in thinking that writers need to make when approaching VR – and that involves focusing on the audience and the active role they play in a VR experience. He believes there is no such thing as a non-interactive VR experience.

“As players in VR, we need to understand our role in the scene,” Morgan said. “We are more radically present in that scene than we are in any other type of media. We are participants in the simulation, never just spectators.”

Morgan stressed that to be successful, VR has to be a collaboration between player and story. Writers need to show the player where they stand in relation to the fourth wall and the characters. For this reason, VR is closer to theatre than to cinema. “You have to build the space around the player,” he said. “You have to create a space that ensures that, wherever you’re looking, they get it. And you have to work with the player to create that experience.”

A player can just be a ghost observing the scene – but their role needs to be consistent. And as long as you tell the player what they are then it works.

This article is an extract from the BBC Writersroom blog. To read it in full and get tips on writing for scripted VR drama, click here.