Jaunt worked with Diageo to create an interactive virtual reality experience about the consequences of binge drinking. Titled “Decisions: Party’s Over,” the experience follows the journeys of four partygoers as they expose themselves to the dangers of binge drinking. This perspective is powerfully delivered to audiences using new immersive storytelling techniques and interactive distribution technology.
Telling a Story from Multiple Perspectives
For the production team behind “Decisions: Party’s Over,” telling a story from four different perspectives meant directing, capturing, and producing it four times. From the film crew to the actors to the creative team, maintaining consistency across the four perspective films was key according to director Patrick Meegan:
“Not only do you get to inhabit the simultaneous synchronous viewpoints of the characters in the story, you also get to dynamically switch between them throughout the experience. This means each scene in the story needs to be shot four times for each of the points of view and each of those points of view needs to match perfectly with the others.”
Achieving this consistency through the filming of all four character points of view required a creative approach. As opposed to working with traditional camera operators, dancers who were smaller in stature but still matched the actors’ skin tones were hired to wear the head-mounted VR camera setup in order to achieve a first-person perspective. Choreographers were also brought in to ensure every movement was perfectly matched to a master clock, guaranteeing the different perspectives were consistent from every angle.
Delivering an Interactive VR Experience
“Decisions: Party’s Over” takes audience immersion to new levels by giving viewers the autonomy to choose which perspective they experience the story from. This was accomplished by providing viewers with a playback experience consisting of four synchronized video feeds, one for each of the story’s characters. Powered by the Jaunt XR Platform, the four synchronized stereoscopic 360 videos were presented in one app interface through which viewers could change character perspectives and consume the story from every angle. The end result was a multi-faceted immersive experience that presents the dangers of binge drinking from different perspectives.
Where to Watch “Decisions: Party’s Over”
“Decisions: Party’s Over” is available in different formats for both mobile and VR HMD users. iOS and Android users can access the experience’s four individual character films via jntvr.co/binge-drinking-virtual-reality. This link will prompt users to open the films in the Jaunt VR App and will also allow mobile and desktop viewers to stream the films in their browsers.
The complete interactive experience is available for Oculus Rift and Gear VR users on the Jaunt App in the Oculus store.
Immersive Content as a Tool for Social Responsibility
Immersive content is often lauded for its ability to create feelings of empathy among viewers. The medium’s empathetic nature is what makes it perfect for communicating social responsibility, and this is something Diageo has done with great impact in its efforts to combat binge drinking. As a follow-up to Diageo’s first virtual reality experience, “Decisions: Party’s Over” presents itself as a powerful, innovative approach to raising awareness for the dangers of binge drinking.
For more information on Diageo’s global responsible drinking initiatives and helpful resources, visit www.DRINKiQ.com.