The spherical video style continues to gain popularity in the music industry and to diversify in the manner in which it is presented by producers. The most recent chapter in this style’s evolution comes from Onion Creek Productions via their music video for Wild Child‘s single “Rillo Talk”.
The video takes viewers on a psychedelic journey through what director Aaron Brown described as a “portal effect”. This effect was utilized to transition viewers from one colorful tinyplanet environment to the next throughout the course of the video.
‘Rillo Talk’ represents Onion Creek Production’s first endeavor into 360 degree video. In talking with Brown, the opportunity to utilize a new perspective was the driving force behind his team’s use of 360Heros immersive video gear:
“It’s a technology that is a win-win for a lot of people because the creative people who are using the technology get to play with an unbelievable new perspective. You can really push that perspective as far as you want.”
Generally speaking, 360 video production poses unique challenges for teams attempting their first project. For Brown and post production editor Ben Bloom, these challenges were overshadowed in comparison to the freedom offered by immersive video:
“It’s challenging because you have to have some faith in the technology. You have to try and imagine what it’s going to look like if you put it here as opposed to there… I hadn’t thought about it, but filming this music video was probably the least challenging production we’ve done. The biggest challenge is making sure all six of the cameras are running. Other than that, it’s a completely liberating way to shoot.”
When asked about his experience working with 360Heros technology, Brown cited the simplicity of Plug-n-Play Holders as a major factor in facilitating such a flexible film-making experience:
“The best part about what you guys have developed is you were thoughtful in the logistical use of it. The physical structure is very light, it’s really sturdy and it’s very strong. But what I really like about what you guys did is you thought about how a person is going to have to be putting a camera in, taking cards out, changing batteries – all of the things you do on set.”
Brown went on to describe the two-day film shoot as a “party” in which he, the Onion Creek Productions team and Wild Child enjoyed the freedom offered by this new technology. According to Bloom, this high level of freedom applied to the post production process as well:
“It’s incredible. You need to decide on a theme and an aesthetic early on so you have something to work toward in post animation. That helps to keep a consistent feel to the video because there’s so much flexibility. You’re really only limited by your imagination.”
Bloom’s imaginative approach to this project saw him spend nearly a month working through the post production process. This included running the original footage through multiple editing and animation programs to achieve the desired tinyplanet appearance:
“We were playing with a couple of different looks that you can get from the software. Autopano software gives you around a dozen presets to choose from and we were planning on using a little bit from each of them. We also wanted to lean heavily on the animation, which you can do with that software but I’m much more familiar with [Adobe] After Effects. The little planet template in After Effects gave us the most flexibility in animation so that’s why we went with it.”
According to the Onion Creek team, “Rillo Talk” won’t be their only spherical video adventure. In speaking about the future of 360 video, Brown sees it as a quickly emerging and competitive field in which production companies (including Onion Creek) are running with the new technology:
“I’m trying to think of where it is going to go, where can we push it, where can we take this stuff? I think in the next six months you’re going to see an explosion and people trying to one-up each other. People will look back at our video and say ‘Oh yea, that’s what they were doing two years ago. Look what’s out now.'”
As for his own team’s future plans for 360 video, it seems that a more immersive experience is on the horizon. With their original inspiration coming from a tinyplanet-styled video, creating a full 360 degree field of view presents itself as another exciting challenge for Onion Creek Productions. If “Rillo Talk” is any indication, 360Heros and the the rest of the immersive video community are in for another treat.
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