Weta touch for White House virtual reality tour
A pair of former Weta employees have moved from the world of visual effects to virtual reality, now working for a studio on the cutting edge of the new form of cinematic experience.
Argentinian-born Sebastian Sylwan and Wellingtonian Jenny Mortimer are involved in the technology side of things at Felix and Paul Studios in Montreal, Canada.
Sylwan is the company’s chief technology officer and Mortimer is a project manager.
They were involved in creating a 360-degree video offering a virtual-reality tour through the White House before the Obamas departed.
The People’s House: Inside The White House With Barack And Michelle Obama was narrated by and featured Barack Obama. It highlighted historical moments from America’s past 44 presidents, and reflections from Obama’s eight years in office.
The studio had made a piece with Obama when he visited Yosemite National Park, Sylwan explained. After that, the White House got in touch about filming inside the presidential premises as a legacy piece for the Obamas.
Working on the technical side of things meant neither were on scene for the shoot, but both had worked on the project from start to finish.
‘‘There have been a few special challenges with the White House. You can only do one take, the president doesn’t come back and repeat it so you have to set it up and get it right the first time’’, said Mortimer, a native Wellingtonian who moved to Montreal in August.
‘‘Having a 360-degree camera in the middle with Obama there – the room’s all around him, there’s not much room for an autoprompter so Obama ad-libbed it. It was lucky they got the first take the first time around.’’
The nature of the filming meant nothing in the room could be hidden, so the studio had to provide the Secret Service their footage, all 85 terabytes of it, so agents could approve what was used.
The film was a precursor to a longer, fully immersive visual reality piece that would allow unprecedented access to the White House, Sylwan said.
Both Sylwan and Mortimer loved their time working at Weta, saying their new roles compared to what Weta was doing in visual effects 25 years ago.
‘‘Our company was started by two directors, much like Weta in the early days,’’ Sylwan said.
‘‘It’s such a new area that people are still working out how to create something which is compelling for people to experience rather than watch ... we’re involved in the whole production,’’ Mortimer said.
Being involved in something very new was rewarding.