Julian Schoenbohm

My idea for the 360 video is to give the subject the opportunity to explore the bell tower of Syracuse University. I have seen a short documentary film about the bell tower which was also produced by SU students and thought that it would be even nicer to explore the bell tower in 360.

THE SCENES

The final film consists of two scenes. In the first scene, the subject is standing in front of the building so that the subject knows which building he is just going to enter.

The second scene is the bell room of the tower. Here, the subject can experience the tower from the inside and explore the bell room. In addition to that, the tower offers a nice wide view over the whole campus.

LIGHTING

Since the first scene takes place outside, the main light will be daylight. Inside the tower, it depends on weather conditions if additional artificial light is necessary. On a sunny day, the daylight may lighten the inside of the tower sufficiently.

AUDIO

Different atmo sounds recorded outside shall support the experience of the subject. This will also be done inside of the bell tower. If necessary, additional sounds can be added in the post production afterwards. For the inside, industrial/metal sounds are an option. Additionally, the atmo sounds from the outside can be added low-pass-filtered. This could support the feeling of being physically present inside the building.

EXPERIENCE

I think the best experience you can have with 360 or also VR is to travel to places that actually exist. I came up with the idea of the bell tower since it gives you the opportunity to explore a place you are not able to explore easily even in real life. In addition to that, it is also interesting in terms of the towers history.

With this experience, the subject has the opportunity to slip into the role of a historic bell ringer. So, it is also some sort of time journey since bell ringers are not that common anymore.

The bell room of the tower is located relatively high, which is why some people may want to avoid this experience for reasons of vertigo, potentially.

STORY DISCOVERY

The story consists of two parts. Firstly, the subject has the opportunity to see the inside of the bell tower and get insights in the job of a bell ringer. Secondly, he experiences the history of the tower. The historical facts are displayed in the image. A narrator voice supports the text, so that the subject does not have to read the whole time, but can concentrate on the experience itself.

At the beginning of the story, the subject has the opportunity to take his time to explore the tower without any displayed information. Afterwards, he will get audiovisual information to get to know the history.

WHERE IS MY HEAD?          

In the first scene, the camera is positioned so that the subject has the opportunity to see the whole building and look all the way up to the tower from the outside. So, the camera should be positioned within some distance of the building.

Inside the tower, the camera should be positioned in way that the subject has the opportunity to see both, the bells of the tower and the inside of the bell room, and the whole campus from the viewpoint.

The subject is also standing, so the camera is positioned at an average human height.

SAFETY

Since both of the scenes are shot on campus, the risk of the camera being stolen should not be that high. Additionally, the production team does not necessarily need to ensure to be out of the picture, since many other people are likely to pass the area the camera captures.

Since there are no other people inside the bell tower, the camera is also very safe there. While recording, the production team can hide on a platform that is located below the uppermost part of the tower, where the bells are located.