3000 METERS
3000 METERS is an immersive 360° short film that takes place in a small, cramped submersible sent on a scouting mission to the bottom of the ocean. The pilot is instructed to search for materials to salvage and is warned to avoid contact with hostile wildlife. Armed with only a headlight, will the pilot survive the horrors that lie 3000 meters
below sea level?
The short film is made to be viewed in a virtual reality headset where the viewer can lean forward and freely rotate in their surroundings. However, I have recorded the short film in a flat format for the purpose of easily showcasing it online.
Every asset was modeled by me in Blender, then textured in Substance Painter and imported into Unity, where I assembled the assets into a scene and added lighting and animation.
For this project, I knew I wanted to make an animated immersive 360° short film. From there, the concept of placing the viewer in a submersible with limited vision sprouted from the limitations and considerations of the 360° format.
Scene transitions are noticeably more jarring in 360°, but making it a continuous, uninterrupted sequence maintained the immersion.
Motion in virtual reality can cause discomfort and sickness in users, but this could be reduced by limiting the field of view of the environment being moved through.
Modeling and texturing each asset by hand takes a lot of time and work. By setting the film in a dark environment, the flaws of the models are more difficult to notice.
With these considerations in mind and my own interest in the depths of the ocean, I set the film in a submersible for a deep sea horror.
Film reactions from its exhibition at the Center for Academic Success in University of Colorado Boulder.