{"id":4739,"date":"2021-01-26T03:25:27","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T03:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/26\/new-frontier-continues-its-virtual-explorations-during-a-virtual-sundance-film-festival\/"},"modified":"2021-01-26T03:25:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T03:25:27","slug":"new-frontier-continues-its-virtual-explorations-during-a-virtual-sundance-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/26\/new-frontier-continues-its-virtual-explorations-during-a-virtual-sundance-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"New Frontier continues its virtual explorations during a virtual Sundance Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Frontier continues its virtual explorations during a virtual Sundance Film Festival<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis year’s New Frontier at the Sundance Film Festival is a virtual venue composed of spaces passholders can explore in the form of an avatar. The spaces will give attendees access to artists and filmmakers for discussions and screenings.<\/strong>
Courtesy of Sundance Institute<\/em>
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While this year\u2019s virtual Sundance Film Festival pivots on the border of art and technology, the New Frontier exhibit has always felt at home in this crossroad.<\/p>\n

That proved beneficial when festival organizers made an unprecedented decision to move all of its programming online, said Shari Frilot, New Frontier\u2019s senior programmer and chief curator since its inception in 2007.<\/p>\n

For the past 13 years, New Frontier has curated collections of experimental media works by creators who venture across mediums including biotech, mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe world \u2018unprecedented\u2019 is par for the course for New Frontier,\u201d Frilot said. \u201cIt\u2019s supposed to look radically different and completely new every year, because it is our job to really push the envelope of cinema culture. So, this year fell right into our wheelhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s New Frontier virtual venue is composed of spaces passholders can explore in the form of an avatar.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen you go onto New Frontier, you will end up in your own little Space Garden,\u201d Frilot said. \u201cThat\u2019s where you can set up your avatar.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, passholders can visit three areas, and the first one is called The Gallery, she said.<\/p>\n

The New Frontier Gallery is where passholders can experience the complete slate of live performances, AR, VR, and other emerging media works, according to Frilot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go to the gallery to see the work, you will be in a room that can hold 250 people,\u201d she said. \u201cYou will be one of those avatars, and you will be able to talk with others in a chat zone. And up to eight people can go into that chat zone on the New Frontier gallery floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most projects can be viewed 24 hours a day, and the audio and video chats are open from 11 a.m. to just before midnight.<\/p>\n

The next space is called Film Party, which is an interactive bar that features six screens and access to more intimate rooms, Frilot said.<\/p>\n

Passholders can gather together with others in their avatar form, hang out and connect via proximity audio and video chat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole purpose of Film Party is to celebrate the films that are premiering in the Sundance Film Festival\u2019s streaming platform, and it will celebrate five premieres every day,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you come out of a world premiere and visit Film Party, you will see the title of the premiere on one of the screens. If you walk toward the screen, you will be asked if you want to enter the room. If you click \u2018Yes\u2019 you will join in the film\u2019s room. Filmmakers will be there and many of the people who saw the film with you will be there. You will be able to have conversations with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last New Frontier virtual venue is Cinema House, which is Sundance Film Festival\u2019s fully immersive social cinema house that is only accessible through a VR headset, Frilot said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we had to build a cinema, because we are all in this business because we have been completely moved by the magic of cinema,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Cinema House will screen a short films collection at 8 p.m. on Friday. The films are as follows:<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cThis Is the Way We Rise\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cMy Own Landscapes\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cTears Teacher\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cThe Fourfold\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cA Concerto Is A Conversation\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Cinema House screenings will include Doug Aitken\u2019s \u201cStation to Station,\u201d at 3 p.m. on Sunday; Natalia Almada\u2019s documentary \u201cUsers\u201d at 7 p.m. on Monday, and Andrew Dosunmu\u2019s 2013 drama, \u201cMother of George,\u201d at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

All the virtual venues are designed to look as if they are orbiting the Earth alongside the International Space Station, Frilot said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, when you\u2019re in any of these rooms, you will see the Earth below and the ISS outside the windows,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is an astonishing experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Frontier is also open to all Sundance Film Festival passholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t have a pass, you can purchase an Explorer\u2019s Pass for $25 and access all of New Frontier,\u201d Frilot said.<\/p>\n

To build a virtual exhibition this year, Frilot and her staff broke down and examined what they had been doing in the in-person exhibit in Park City.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been putting together an exhibition by presenting work on headsets and computers,\u201d Frilot said. \u201cWe realized that some of those people who will attend the Sundance Film Festival from home this year will still have computers, and many of them will have headsets. So, nothing really is changing except for the venue.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, Frilot and her crew partnered with digital-experience agency Active Theory to build a spatialized virtual platform that would be accessible via laptops, computers and VR headsets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we had no idea of how we were going to do it, we did know that we were in community with amazing creative technologists around the world that New Frontier had brought to the Sundance Film Festival in the past,\u201d she said. \u201cActive Theory had been to the festival before, and that\u2019s who we turned to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frilot said she would love to see the virtual platform continue even when the Sundance<\/p>\n

Film Festival returns to an in-person event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe huge silver lining in needing to reinvent the exhibition design is that more people can have access to New Frontier than ever,\u201d she said. \u201cIn this iteration, all you need is a VR headset and a PC to see all of what New Frontier has to offer. If you have just an Oculus, you can see most of it. If you have a laptop, you can see half the exhibition and participate in all of the premiere parties. So, if we can afford it, there is absolutely no reason to turn back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Published at Mon, 25 Jan 2021 23:48:45 +0000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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