Virtual reality storytelling innovators Felix & Paul Studios premiered a new narrative VR film at Sundance this year, and it’s unprecedented both in the sheer length (40 minutes) as well as the scope of the narrative. Situated in the headspace of a 1980s toy robot, Miyubi takes the viewer on a journey through sibling rivalry, teen angst, marital challenges, and aging—and it's the closest VR has gotten to the feeling of a feature film so far. Sound ambitious? It is.
In this episode of the No Film School podcast, Miyubi directors Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël, as well as CTO Sebastian Sylvan, sit down with No Film School to talk about the VR storytelling tricks they've learned, the departure of this film from their previous work, and how they've attempted to overcome the biggest challenge of narrative storytelling in VR: the fact that viewers inside a headset can look anywhere at any time for the duration of the film.
Note that we will be back next Thursday with our regularly scheduled new episode of Indie Film Weekly.
A still from the point-of-view of the robot in 40-minute VR film 'Miyubi' from Felix & Paul Studios.
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This episode was produced and edited by Jon Fusco.
