Objective: Compare the differences in narrative power dynamics among directors, actors, and audiences in traditional films versus VR films.
Methods:
· Conducted in-depth interviews with industry professionals to analyze VR creation mechanisms suitable for immersive storytelling and explore the need for storyboard-like tools.
· Designed a creation workflow and solution, developing and iterating the collaborative storyboard software Dreamfly.
Results:
· Found that audiences in VR narratives assume partial director/actor roles due to higher interactivity.
· Proposed a separate design for enhancing narrative interactivity in VR production, summarizing a three-layer theory of narrative freedom in VR storytelling.
· Developed Dreamfly, a collaborative storyboard software, exhibited at UAL’s “Discover the Next Generation of Creatives”.
Contribution: Led interview research, software development, and testing, and wrote the thesis.
Abstract:
This thesis compares the roles and interactions of directors, actors, and audiences in traditional film and VR digital film. In-depth interviews with VR film professionals explore how these roles need to adapt during the transition to VR. The study finds that while traditional directing and acting skills are limited in VR, audiences gain enhanced presence, interactivity, and narrative influence—effectively assuming some roles previously held by directors and actors. Based on these insights, adjustments were made to the software and collaboration mechanisms of the VR multiplayer storyboard platform Dreamfly, and recommendations were proposed to optimize the production and appreciation of VR digital films, ultimately enhancing artistic expression and film quality.
Keywords: VR; film; VR actor; VR director; VR audience; VR multicreator; interactive narrative; VR digital film