Machinimania

Angela Watercutter:  "Oculus Story Studio's new project is more than a cute animated short--it's a test case for narrative techniques that could change the way we watch movies."

"Oculus Story Studio's new (& cute) animated short "Henry" brings the psychology of empathy (and much more) into the forefront of development and design.  Yes, it will change the way the audience watches and thinks about movies, but it will only succeed as an artform if filmmakers, storytellers and producers understanding the fundamentals that create empathy, how empathy differs from sympathy and other forms of emotional response, how the sense of presence changes with perception and how people attribute meaning like intentionality in a 'shared space.'  The most telling quote in the article is a parenthetical aside when Saschka Unseld is quoted as saying that the change in connection makes comedy twice as hard because Buster Keaton-esque physical comedy just feels “mean.”  VR will force the examination of all the conventional filmmaking rules of thumb for transmitting engagement and emotion--without which the story isn't successful. #mediapsych  More than ever, it's the psychology that matters.