Virtual production is a tool that allows us to explore fiction, fantasy, and perhaps even something more complex, human emotion.
Allow me to introduce someone who has been harnessing all that virtual production has to offer: Director, Actor, Singer, and our main character for today, DPR Ian.
Just like a blueberry ice cream cake, his videos are full of textures, sounds, and colors that keep us engaged. This engagement freezes time as the cinematic experience with each shot brings us further and further into his world.
Sometimes we are are a seemingly passive observer. Sometimes we peer from below or behind in a voyeuristic manner. Sometimes he makes direct eye contact with the viewer as if to convey that he recognizes who we are and even though we didn't ask for permission he allows us to come along for the ride, he really leaves it up to us if we can hang or not.
Varying textures are omnipresent and are a drug that keeps us coming back for more. Even when it seems like we are presented with no obvious difference, upon further inspection there is always some type of texture, saturation of color, or blurring in the scene. To one it feels like we are watching a movie or reading a comic book. With each new page and scene we see his life unfold in real time. Yellow, black, cyan, and magenta dots come together and become an imitation of what we the viewer believe is real, and maybe even the main character feels the same as well.
What we may feel is reality at first, is really a question of what it truly is. What is real and what is not? Switching between worlds with no predictability causes us to question ourselves. But perhaps, both are realities and one can exist in both worlds at the same time.
The sound production is filled with layers, yet never overwhelming. Controlled chaos is how I would describe the collective cacophony. I have Hyperphantasia and music is the AA battery that energizes the alternate world I live in. My personal definition of a good song is how detailed of a story my brain can react with just by listening to it. DPR Ian takes great agonizing care to put as much deliberate creativity and imagination into both song AND video. In fact I feel that if you were to watch the videos without sound, or listen to the song without the video, you would successfully be able to match them together in a list of others.
I could go on and wax poetry about his creative process however the point is that virtual production makes all of this possible. Bringing our dreams (and maybe even a friendly nightmare) to life is more achievable than ever. We may not be able to read minds, however the ability to transfer feelings and emotions are possible through creative mediums like virtual production.
Capture from DPR Ian's "SAINT BTS" YouTube short
Someday I certainly hope I can express myself as freely through the same tools that DPR Ian uses, then perhaps you could see how I see the world as well.
