Sundance Film Hunger In L.A. Immerses Viewers In An Interactive Journalism Experience | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce
BY: LIZZY GOODMAN
“One of the most talked-about–and harrowing–Sundance films wasn’t a film in the traditional sense. Hunger In L.A., which screened at the New Frontier Pavilion, is an interactive experience that puts participants in the middle of a shocking food line incident. Its creator, journalist-turned-documentarian Nonny de la Peña, talks about the making of the project and its potential impact beyond Sundance….
…The innovative project combines filmmaking, augmented reality, and journalism to recreate a real incident that took place two years ago at a food bank line in L.A. De la Peña used game development software Unity 3D, motion tracking, and a head-mounted goggle display, combined with live audio she recorded during the incident itself to create an immersive, and affecting, experience.
As de la Peña describes how she created the project, her colleague John Brennan follows a man around as he walks in circles occasionally reaching his hand out or crouching down to interact with avatars only he can see. He’s watching a simulation of the events at the First Unitarian Church’s distribution line when a man waiting for food went into a diabetic coma. Six and a half minutes later, Brennan taps him on the shoulder and helps him out of the goggles. “Wow,” the man exclaims, visibly affected. “That was intense.”…
Read the full post here:
http://www.fastcocreate.com/1679530/hunger-in-la-immerses-viewers-in-an-inter…
