What The Metaverse Means For The Future Of Cinema

INTRODUCTION

Visual communication as an industry has rapidly expanded over the past few decades. This is partly due to the internet providing more platforms for visual art to be viewed and interacted with, as well as increasing access to technology tearing down obstacles in the way of producing art. 

Just over 10 years ago if you wanted to make a documentary it required using large and expensive, clunky broadcast cameras, highly expensive film stock, or low fidelity DV cameras. Once it was eventually made you then had to find a TV broadcaster willing to screen it, and if you were lucky enough to sell it, you’d need more luck just to break even on your costs of producing the documentary.

Now, people can pick up a consumer mirrorless camera, or even a phone, and get an amazing image right out of the box, then distribute the final film any number of ways online.

But what does this have to do with the metaverse?

Well, in a similar way that inexpensive digital cameras and the internet transformed the possibilities of documentary filmmaking, I think the metaverse could also have an enormous effect on how films and visual media are made, distributed and interacted with in the future.

In this video I’m going to do some speculating and take you through what the metaverse is and the potential impact I think it may have on the future of cinema and on visual communication.  

WHAT IS THE METAVERSE?

On the 28th of October 2021, Facebook announced their intention to devote a huge amount of resources towards creating their version of the metaverse, signaling their intent by even renaming their holding company Meta.

Whether this bodes well or poorly for the future, one of the biggest companies in the world throwing all their chips into the metaverse pot is significant.

So what exactly is the metaverse?

“You’re going to be able to bring things from the physical world into the metaverse. Almost any type of media that can be represented digitally: photos, video, art, music, movies, music, books, games, you name it.”  - Mark Zuckerberg

The metaverse is a space created on the internet which uses 3-D virtual environments. While it is still in its infancy, the metaverse involves integration between virtual and physical spaces. So people interacting in this environment will be able to create their own avatar or character that represents them, place that avatar in a virtual space, manipulate them with hardware like VR tools and effectively live a life in this space that includes consuming a variety of art forms and visual entertainment - including films.

The metaverse that Meta is currently developing will likely use a motion capture system, such as the Oculus (owned by...you guessed it...Meta), to allow players to explore the online space and interact with user generated content.

There’s definitely the possibility for filmmaking to exist and be incorporated into this future online world. But also, I think the core skill of filmmaking, which is visual communication, is already being used in developing the metaverse, whether through virtual reality, augmented reality or gaming.

WHAT THE METAVERSE MEANS FOR FILMMAKING?

So how will the metaverse change the way that movies are produced?

To understand this I think we need to know the four main categories that largely determine the cost of producing a film: sets, actors, crew and gear. The metaverse holds the potential to remove or change all of these boundaries.

Let’s start with sets. In the Metaverse, with a little bit of programming, you can create whatever location you want. In real life you may not be able to block off three avenues in New York to shoot your student film, but in the Metaverse any location you can imagine could become a reality. 

Secondly, actors could be replaced with avatars representing any form. Or, actors could still be captured in real life and then placed within a 3-D virtual environment.

Third, crew. The only crew you’ll need are people to capture any live action footage and a team of programmers to do the post production digital grunt work. The hundreds of on set crew members needed for larger productions will be greatly reduced since, well...there won’t be sets.

And fourth, gear. Far more minimal camera and lighting gear will be needed to capture live action. Rather than lighting an entire space, now all that needs to be lit is a character and a green screen. Expensive gear that was once used for the bulk of capturing the footage will now be replaced by computers.

So it may seem that all of these prohibitive boundaries that there once were to make a movie will now dissolve and anyone will be able to produce a blockbuster from the comfort of their own home. 

I think this yields interesting opportunities. Just as cheaper digital cameras, editing software and an increase in distribution platforms had an impact on how documentaries are made, I think this jump in metaverse technology has the potential to yield similar possibilities in visual communication.

However, I also can’t help but also be a bit sceptical.

While certain live action aspects of filmmaking, such as sets and actors, may move into the virtual space, it won’t exactly be cheap to make movies. I think celebrity actors will continue to be in demand for their ability to attract an audience and will continue to be paid premium rates whether their performance is in the real or virtual world. 

I also think that many of the costs saved on crew, gear and locations will just be re-allocated to hiring a large team of programmers and designers to create the virtual movie - similar to how large budget games are produced.

In the end, when it comes to mass entertainment I still think the same players will dominate. The people who are going to be able to produce the highest-end films will still be the production companies with the largest budget, greatest resources and marketing power. 

To remain on the cutting edge of technology, to employ the most talented filmmakers or artists and to promote the end product will always take a lot of money - whether in the real world or the metaverse.

While I think the metaverse and virtual reality filmmaking has many exciting possibilities and may change the landscape of independent filmmaking through creative user generated content, I think that the space of mass entertainment will continue to be dominated by the production companies that are able to spend the most money.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

So why does it matter to those who are working, studying or interested in film and what impact will it have on them?

Although what I’m suggesting is hypothetical, we can already find practical examples of film production companies working in this virtual space. Visual effects companies such as Digital Domain, founded by James Cameron, are increasingly producing more and more work, such as characters, in the VR and AR space.

While the transition for those who occupy roles in the visual effects and post production side of the film industry is relatively straightforward, what does it mean for other crew members who are used to applying their trade in a two dimensional world - like a cinematographer for instance.

As we transition into this new virtual space there will be a period where capturing the real world will be incorporated with visual effects work. This is actually a job that cinematographers are already performing. Almost every film that is produced nowadays includes some degree of visual effects work incorporated with live action cinematography. Combining traditional photographic skills for capturing images, along with more conceptual skills is already a necessity for most DPs.

For example, Bradford Young was tasked with combining these skills when shooting Arrival.

“It was on us to determine the tenor of the visual effects. The visual effects aren’t going to determine how we make the film. We make the film and the visual effects come into play later.” - Bradford Young, Cinematographer

On Arrival the creative team decided on a set of rules when filming the live action, such as keeping the focus on the character in the foreground.

“We never threw focus or rarely threw focus to effects or a CG element. You know, we always kept it in the foreground. If we had four or five added helicopters we wouldn’t throw focus there and say ‘Hey, this is real!’...The film is not about that. The film is about what is happening in front of us.”  - Bradford Young, Cinematographer

To me it would be sad to see sit-down cinema as we know it disappear in the metaverse (never mind the potential negative social effects the metaverse might have on the population at large). But one thing we can never escape from is that art is always changing. 

Cinematographers of the future will be faced with tools for creating in the virtual world that may have been impossible before in the physical 2-D realm.

For example, even now with visual effects it is possible for cinematographers to shape light in a way that would have been otherwise impractical without digital help.

“We get out in these situations where we have a long walk and talk. Because of the environment that we’re in and because of the tools we have...people don’t walk with a 12x12 negative fill the whole walk. But when we do visual effects, we forget that it’s a visual effect, you’re lighting it so you can do whatever you want.” - Bradford Young, Cinematographer

The norms of how traditional creative systems are to be adapted are still being formulated, so being at the forefront of them as a creator is an exciting prospect.

CONCLUSION

I guess I’d sum up this piece by concluding that although the metaverse is still in its infancy, I think it’s indisputable that eventually filmmaking, and many other forms of entertainment, will continue to move into an increasingly virtual, online space.

As things become more and more virtual, filmmakers will need to adapt their skills from being more practical to being more conceptual. This process may be slow and take many many decades, but I have a feeling it may happen faster than we think.

The metaverse may open up interesting new possibilities for expression, but I think that the mainstream entertainment space will still be dominated by mass media companies that can spend the most. Bearing in mind that these are all predictions I think that there are a couple of things which most creatives should do to stay abreast of this changing visual world:

One. Stay informed and up to date on technological advancements.

Two. Continue honing and building your conceptual eye for visual communication and storytelling. 

Because while the demand for your ability to physically photograph stories may dissolve over time, what has always been important, throughout the evolution of art from its earliest form up to what we have now, is the perspective of the artist. Having a strong artistic perspective and experienced eye for storytelling will ensure you’ll always have a job in whatever medium film, or visual storytelling, ends up being.