360 Film, Yellow

360 cameras can be used as a powerful filming tool to enhance comedy and action. We created the short film, Yellow, to test some of the capabilities of this technology and its emotive use in a narrative.

Why 360?

I’ve recently been inspired by action anime, a technique often used in this medium is wide perspective. Wide perspectives can simulate faster movement as objects move when near the camera can appear to be moving faster than with a telephoto lens.

A 360 camera can have its field of view animated and controlled in post production. To me, this optimises the control you have, much like with a cut, to hit action or comedic beats.

Yellow

Yellow was a short film that we designed to test the comedic and action effects of an animated field of view. We wanted to take a fairly stationary scene and add a live of intensity by using changing field of views to simulate strain for a character and add more velocity to a shot that is fairly stationary.

One of the clearest examples of this process would be where the 360 camera was moved up the actor’s body when they were wearing a striped t-shirt. Having the field of view very wide and having a slight movement upwards made each stripe look like it was moving really fast. Something that would not be possible with a usual camera format.

Animating the field of view on moments of strain allowed us to intensify the struggle and enhance the performance of the actor for comedic effect which adds to a build up to an unexpected ending.

The possibilities of 360 cameras

There are plenty more uses of 360 camera effects that can also take inspiration from animation and illustration from a wide angle perspective. For example, moments of discomfort, realisation or mental instability from a usually impossible perspective thanks to the abnormal field of view produced by a 360 camera that can even extend to behind the camera.

We are currently using 360 cameras in my latest feature film that blends between animation and live-action action sequences, therefore crossing the boundary between animated and not animated where almost everything in the frame can be animated on a beat much like an animation. We are excited to show you the results of our experiments in the future. Be sure to subscribe or follow my socials to see how these practices are taking effect in our more extensive pieces!