360 panning movie -
Around the world in 80 days with a ladybug.
cd/dvd rom/web page/theatres?
Bill Meikle bcmeikle@shaw.ca
This is a movie project in the planning stages by
bcmeikle@shaw.ca ...
If you have money or resources please help out.
'Visiting some of the world's most beautiful,interesting, locations
and doing
VR video walkthroughs and a game'.
Bill Meikle's company, Deep Forest Software (vrhotwires.com) has been working
with photographic VR/interactive video for almost 10 years. He's written
2 large post-production tools in C++ and that was hard. Now he needs to test
them and get off his butt and get some physical excercise.
A Vancouver company,
Pt. Grey media
has invented the Ladybug, a camera that shoots in all directions at once,
so it's time to really capture photographic 360 video since Bill's
company is the only one projecting panning video in a standard format...
( I admit, I came up with the idea of getting paid to visit beautiful places
with a camera on my head. Largely because I've met a few people who get paid
to do fun things, and I thought it would be a great idea....dare to dream
right? )
It just seemed right after sitting at the
desk working out a way to project panning video for years, to use it. And
I need to get off my butt, get this tech moving... So here's a project!
Here's a
panning video
made with the ladybug.
Here's the
pt grey page
on the ladybug.
This is what it looks like
full screen
.
This was way over-compressed for fullscreen,
but the camera could make a file 10 times larger than this that would play
back just
as fast. So we'd have full screen, and high-res with fast panning. That's
unique in the
industry. The trade-off is a lack of geometrical correction.
80 days creaming the great sites of the world, linking them
into a couple of narratives....
-A documentary about TOURIST SITES,
-A page of THRILLS (fun rides with a ladybug)
-ADVENTURE GAME..that leads you through the sites on a treasure hunt.
See!
the grand canyon
niagra falls
the matterhorn
canalboats of venice
ayres rock
temples of india
great ruins of zimbabwe
pyramids of egypt
taj mahal
tikal...
cuzco
falls d'agazu...
vic falls...
ancient places in the middle east...
the palace of mysor...
stone henge
-----------------
Experience THRILLS!
-bungy jump in new zealand
-ski in canada
-roller coasters in America
-other things depending on waterproof/sunproof enclosure...
----------------
ADVENTURE GAME:
You're probably going to go through the cd clicking,
or you can even watch it as a passive movie!
But the kids will go through it on a treasure hunt.
an adventure game links all the sites..they have to find the
object and drag it down into their inventory. They then
are transported back to mission control.
---
THEATRE PRESENTATION
There is only one criterea on the theatre version.
'Is the CD version really really good?'
Funny enough? Entertaining enough?
If so the idea is around wireless controllers.
When you enter the movie theatre you're handed a little
wireless playstation controller.
As you watch the movie the audience controls what happens.
The interactivity is a little different, as it pushes the audience to finish
in a certain
time frame...
---
Basic Tenants:
-Get paid to travel around to exotic places and see the sites.
-show off our invention: spriteoramas and also the ladybug.
-never stress.
-keep travel time down. The original 'around the world in 80
days'
it took 80 days to get around. I want to do it in as little as possible.
-utilize the assistance of qtvr producers all over the world but never
rely on them...make the whole project possible to do by yourself and then
flex it
to local conditions...
-13.3 days per continent. skipping antarctica. 2 weeks.
-I have multiple sclerosis so I have to rest sometimes, take it easy, and
stay out of
too much heat.There will be days off every week, and time off scheduled in.
A lot can get dne but it has to be fun, not a nightmare...
In some case I will have to hand the camera over to someone
else to get the shot.
I can see how heat could be a problem in India,
Africa, and South America since I have an annoying tendency to go blind in
heat.
I have to wing it and stay at higher altitudes...Nepal,
Nairobi, aren't too bad, but I'm not going to Calcutta or Mombassa.
----------
Show economic diversity.
If this movie in any way gives people a window into the world,
I don't want to add to the problem where the media erases the poor because
they
are awkward. The world I want to show will include a shot or two in the slums...as
well as a couple of mansions. As well there will be several average houses...
---------
Timing. My initial idea was to be very spontaneous and try for
March April May '04... but that may get changed...
try for 10 days travelling 70 days sightseeing.
FINANCES canadian dollars
COSTS
camera
-16,000
plane ticket
-5000
other-(hotels,food,tickets)-5000
misc-4000
total minimum cost for project: $30,000
Cost with 1 optional theatre show: $50,000? (controllers, developing
controller tech)
Income:
-could I resell the camera after 6-8 months.
$12000
cad ($8000 us)
-could I sell 2 cameras and take the 20%price reduction $9000
cad? ($2400us *3)
-could I sell advertising on the web page?
$6000
over 6 months.($1000/month 10 sponsors
pay $100/each)
-could I sell more software.
$3000
(my rough guess is it would sell 10 apps)
-pay for view movies on the web.
$1000
(can't depend on this for a lot but it's key
to develop)
-CD sales on the web.
$1000
at $20each that 50 copies. Could sell
500 or 5 also...
Theatre presentation:
? nothing to lots?
We are talking about a high-risk investment, that may not pay back a cent.
It could also pay back a lot if it was done right as the costs are really
fairly minimal compared to
most media projects...