01 Mar 3/5/19 Eliza McNitt and Jess Engel

Posted at 12:42h in Events, Lecture Series, Past Lectures, Uncategorized by

 

 

 

 

 

 

In conversation with:

Eliza McNitt and Jess Engel

Tuesday | March 5th | 12:00 – 1:30 PM
MIT Open Documentary Lab | E15-318
MIT Campus, Wiesner Building, 20 Ames Street, 3rd Floor, Cambridge MA 02139

Building Worlds

Immersive experiences have evolved, ranging from passive, observant, interactive and multi-user…But how does one create immersive worlds that are simultaneously compelling, immersive and comfortable for a user to visit? What about interaction design? Pacing? Music and tone? What about aesthetics and narrative approaches? A full walk-through of the Award-Winning project Spheres, a 45min 3 part interactive VR series that lets you discover the sounds of space. Winner of a Golden Lion for best Immersive Experience, Venice, Mostra del Cinema 2018.

Eliza McNitt, an award-winning writer-director working closely with scientists,  fuses narrative storytelling with science to explore the human connection with the cosmos, in such VR works as Fistful of Stars and SPHERES.

Jess Engel is a new media storyteller and producer, focused on story-driven VR and AR experiences, films, and digital content. As founder of Crimes of Curiosity, Engel, alongside Darren Aronofsky’s company Protozoa Pictures and VR studio AtlasV, produced Eliza McNitt’s Spheres. Prior, Engel was Director of Original Content at WITHIN, where she executive produced Tyler Hurd’s Chorus and produced Zach Richter’s Hallelujah, made using Lytro’s cutting-edge technology. Before WITHIN, she produced Eliza McNitt’s Fistful of Stars. Engel also served as Creative Executive at Electric City Entertainment, working on films including Captain Fantastic and The Place Beyond The Pines. She is a Sundance New Frontier fellow and mentor.