Representing identity in immersive non-fiction

Welcome to 2020, where Zoom calls are the norm and you can buy Travis Scott merch for your avatar to wear in Fortnite. Against this accelerated digitalization of reality, how do storytellers portray character and identity? This conversation offers a survey of some emerging technologies for representing non-fiction characters in immersive storytelling. It questions the implications of these new tools on the semiological production of meaning, and it muses on authenticity and agency in a post-truth mediascape.

Caitlin Robinson is the producer behind immersive non-fiction experiences: “Le Lac” (Winner, Best Digital Narrative, Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019), “Lagos At Large” (Forbes 50 Best XR experiences of 2019) and “Azibuye – The Occupation” (Official Selection, Sundance New Frontier 2020). Her work spans critically-acclaimed documentary films; investigative journalism for TV (BBC, Al Jazeera, and DStv); branded content (Spotify, Unilever and Pepsi); and new media, including virtual reality and digital installation. Her documentary portrait series Watertight is a 3D printed specimen collection of New Yorkers and the homes they inhabit. It premiered at IDFA 2018 and is now in the permanent collection of Futurium – the “museum of the future” in Berlin. Now, at the Brooklyn-based, Emmy award-winning technology studio Scatter, she is building the creative possibilities of the reality capture software, Depthkit, and advancing the medium of volumetric filmmaking through supporting the ecosystem of creators using Depthkit. Scatter has two original productions in the works – Changing Same and Volumetric Histories. Caitlin holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a Masters in Fine Arts from Tisch School of the Arts.