New episodic series is being produced for Samsung's Milk VR service
By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --While experimenting with virtual reality for his latest project, "The Walking Dead" executive producer David Alpert and his crew relied on a very old-school form of technology when filming in 360 degrees: the hidey-hole.
"The assistant director would go around and say, 'OK. Everyone, get in your hidey-hole!'" said David Alpert, president of Skybound Entertainment and an executive producer on "The Walking Dead" franchise. "Everyone in the camera department would look around and check if you could see them. If they could, they'd say, 'You need a new hidey-hole!'"
Being outside the view of cameras capturing every angle was just one of the many challenges that Alpert uncovered while working on "Gone," a live-action episodic VR series produced for Samsung's Milk VR service. The first installment of the 11-part mystery debuts Dec. 9.
"Gone" explores what happens when a child goes missing. The story unfolds from a main 360-degree perspective. At certain points throughout "Gone," viewers are able to zoom in on clues using the touchpad on the side of Samsung's Gear VR headset, which utilizes Samsung smartphones as a display device.
"The Walking Dead" fans will have to wait for a VR experience based on the franchise. Alpert noted that modern VR is still evolving and that he wanted to first produce an original story in VR before tackling zombies in the immersive medium.
"In the beginning when TV came out, people started just by putting radio on TV," he said. "Then, when the Internet came, people said, 'Let's put TV on the Internet.' It takes a while to find that native medium. I don't think the best thing to do is to to take an established brand and just plop it in VR."
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More