Recording live-action scenes for virtual-reality devices has been limited by the fact that cameras are stuck in one position and headset wearers can't lean their heads over to get a different view.
That'll change with a new camera called Immerge from startup Lytro. The spherical head unit includes hundreds of tiny cameras that measure light coming in from every direction, a technique known as light field photography.
The camera will allow viewers to do things like lean to their left or right within about a cubic meter of space (1.3 cubic yards) to look around real-life objects rendered in the virtual world.
Renting the camera will run in the low thousands of dollars each day. The fee includes servers to hold several terabytes of footage. Each set, about the size of a cabinet, is good for one hour of shooting. Servers can be swapped out while shooting.
CEO Jason Rosenthal says the resolution of the camera is close to four times better than the 4K standard known as Ultra HD and will also render images in 3-D. The current practice of using software to stitch together footage shot from multiple cameras isn't needed, he says.
– Ryan Nakashima, AP Business Writer
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More