Here is a very interesting short film. It was created to demonstrate a new technology for Motorola’s Google powered Moto X smartphone. The video shows how the user can move the phone, and change the camera. It is a form of virtual reality. The world in the film is 360 degrees, but the action is limited to a 90 degree proscenium.
But, aside from the cutting edge technology, it is a very old fashioned style of film making. Doug Sweetland (Presto) helped develop the concept: “It’s like the old vaudeville bit of the guy trying to pick up his hat, and he keeps kicking it off the stage. In our case it was the wind. It can go in any direction we want, so we have total freedom.”
I love how they take the idea of the mouse and the hat through so many variations. The hat, at times, seems to have a mind of its own. It becomes a chase film, and the chase is reversed, which is something I don’t recall seeing done before.
It was directed by Jan Pinkava,(Geri’s Game, Ratatouille) and produced by Karen Dufilho, who I worked with years ago at Duck Soup in LA. The were assisted by several other Pixarians.