The concept for this project was birthed by circumstance. This past weekend I visited the venue where I’m getting married in July – the Manor – for a food tasting. I thought it would be interesting to bring the rico Theta along with me to document the locations where major events of the wedding would take place. My partner Mai thought this was an interesting concept and we got to work.
Using the Theta, I captured the following images. https://360.vizor.io/v/jyjvl , https://360.vizor.io/v/xdwj7 , https://360.vizor.io/v/xdwj7 . Originally, the concept was to then place these in a 360 headset and show them to my fiancé Kristen, in the hopes that this view would illicit some sort of response. Ultimately, I ended up deciding against this as I felt her being present at the time of the photos ruined the intended illusion.
It was then that Mai and I came up with the idea to show the three different images to someone who wouldn’t attend the wedding with the hopes of making them feel as if they were invited. I admit I sort of set us up for failure by focusing on images that weren’t the same time of day as the wedding but this was more an interesting hurdle than a reason to pivot in a different direction.
Mai and I decided to use music to help with the immersive affect: Pachelbel’s Cannon in D for the first image where the ceremony would take place, Nina Simone’s “My Baby Just Cares For Me” – Kristen and I’s first ’song’ – for the second image where the reception would be and Bruno Mars “24K Magic” for where the after party would be.
The video goes in depth about Laura’s experience doing this but the take away that I found most fascinating was how engaging Laura auditory sense allowed her to defy certain factors that would likely prevent her from feeling immersed. The best example being that Laura started dancing during the “after party” image despite the fact that what she was looking at was taken during the early afternoon. Her movements ironically mimicked those of the attendees (at least I hope they’ll be dancing) which means, whether or not she was doing so ironically or not, Laura was immersed in the experience.