Steven Spielberg warns Virtual Reality technology could actually be “dangerous” to filmmaking.
VR technology is the latest technological innovation that has investors, Silicon Valley and even Mark Zuckerberg calling it the next big thing since the Internet. But, one man is not too convinced.
Steven Spielberg has warned the rise of virtual reality technology represents a potentially “dangerous” development for traditional filmmakers. During this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where several VR movies are screening alongside Steven Spielberg’s new movie The BFG, Spielberg says the new format is ruining the art of filmmaking.
“I think we’re moving into a dangerous medium with virtual reality,” he said. “The only reason I say it is dangerous is because it gives the viewer a lot of latitude not to take direction from the storytellers but make their own choices of where to look. I just hope it doesn’t forget the story when it starts enveloping us in a world that we can see all around us and make our own choices to look at,”added Spielberg.
But, one filmmaker told Reuters that he disagrees with Spielberg. Eric Darnell, whose six-minute VR movie Invasion, which is also playing at the Cannes Film Festival, argues that it’s “just an extension of cinema.”
“It is its own thing and we have to discover so much about what are the tools in our toolbox,” Darnell told Reuters. “It really is just a brand new language.”
At the end of the day, Mark Zuckerberg is going to make sure his $1 billion investment is a hit.
