Vestige is a room-scale VR documentary that uses volumetric capture to take the viewer on a journey into the mind of Lisa as she remembers her lost love. Within an empty void, fragments of past memories appear of their life together and eventually lead us to the shocking moment of Erik’s death.
It on January 13th 2018, 1.4m people across Hawai’i received an SMS from the state’s Emergency Management Agency: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
In the minutes that followed, they were forced to confront existential questions that had been unthinkable just moments before: where could they go for shelter? What would remain of their communities if they survived a nuclear blast? How could they explain to their children why we live in a world where such unimaginable destruction was possible? And how could their own Government continue to pursue nuclear policies that threaten the entire global population every day?
By the time FEMA managed to retract the incorrect warning message, it was too late to pretend that normality would resume. Their collective experience had laid bare the growing threat that nuclear weapons pose to the world. In the words of Kauai resident Cynthia Lazaroff, ‘Nothing happened, but everything changed’.
When I’m asked what’s so special about VR, I always talk about intimacy. It is the intimacy between space and story that has the power to transform. The tangible nature of VR is what creates a special kind of empathy. Volumetric capture allows me to create intimacy between the viewer and Lisa to connect them with her story in a way which is more visceral than any other medium. Vestige is an exploration of memory, through an intimate story of love and loss.
“Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.” ― Guy de Maupassant
When I first interviewed Lisa she told me she was scared of losing Erik. Even though Erik is gone, she feels her memories of Erik slipping away. She thought that our interviews would help her get him back and, as painful as it was to reopen closed doors, it was
worth it, just to remember him.
As Lisa tells me stories of Erik she seamlessly traverses space and time through complex connections between memories. This is the case of most people that I’ve interviewed. Memory closely resembles hyperlinks on a web page, where certain words allow branching to other memories. It’s this branching that has lead me to pursue the challenge of creating a multi-narrative experience for Vestige.
The act of exploring in VR allows many variables to be collected about the viewer, rather than presenting the viewer with options, which could detract from the narrative experience. Position, gaze direction and velocity will be used to trigger different versions of the narrative at key moments. The elements within the space that attract your attention will decide the journey you take through the memories.
“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” ― Marcel Proust
Every time you recall a memory the proteins that form the memory are reconstructed. Memory isn’t an inert piece of data that sits dormant until accessed, it’s continually being destroyed and recreated; dying and being reborn. Every time the proteins coalesce and the neurons fire a little piece of the memory is changed. Remembering is an act of creation.
The more I speak with Lisa, the more I realize that grief is a process in which we configure our memories. As much as we want to hold on to the perfect memories of a lost love, grief transforms them. It’s this process of transformation that I want to explore with Vestige. I want to show the invasive power of one moment over every memory you once cherished.
Aaron Bradbury is an award winning VR creator whose work has been screened at festivals throughout the world including Cannes, Annecy and SXSW as well as being featured on platforms such as Within and Transport. His experience with interactive installation and immersive storytelling give him a unique understanding of narrative within the VR format. His powerful and emotive work on the 3D 360° video VR experience LoVR has achieved critical acclaim globally.
JORGE TERESO is a director & digital artist from Buenos aires. His work ranges from playful and lysergic animations to realistic VR experiences and interactive installations. He’s a partner at 3dar studios, where he created its first award winning short film, Shave It (2013).
Since then he’s been creating 3dar’s original content, always in search of new ways to expand the possibilities of animation.
Written and directed by
Aaron Bradbury
Featuring audio interviews with
Lisa Elin
Produced by
Paul Mowbray, Antoine Cayrol and Jill Basmajian
Produced by
NSC Creative, Atlas V, Kaleidoscope, RYOT
Music by
STARKEY
Cast
Marion Cotillard, Helen Mutch and Patch Harvey
Developer
NSC Creative
Supported by
CNC
Powered by
Depthkit, Unity, FMOD
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