GEIMU - a live-action VR film

Medieval Japan and films about that era have an enduring hold on the imaginations of people all across the world, and it is a genre that I am personally very passionate about. When coming up with GEIMU, I thought, how incredible would it be if you could experience that world in live-action 3D virtual reality from a first person perspective? I wanted to make it fun and full of action and adventure. By setting it in a video game world, I bring the story into the modern day, making it more relatable and immediately accessible to the audience, while giving it a sci-fi twist. The film's style is influenced by Japanese tokusatsu or special effects movies of the 20th century with its overall style, tone, and use of both practical and visual effects.

Being Japanese-American and having grown up with the culture in my life and having lived and worked in Japan for over a decade, it was very important to me to be faithful to Japanese period piece conventions. Decades of collective experience went into getting the speech, mannerisms, sword fighting choreography, wardrobe and props just right in GEIMU. We even had a traditional Japanese horse on which our pov action double who is a yabusame practitioner (samurai traditional horseback archer) filmed the ride.

In order to create a compelling game world, we needed it to feel expansive. So we added a fair amount of movement and travel in the story. There is also significant sword action, and cool things you would experience in a fantasy game world like jumping 20 feet in the air and riding a galloping horse. We went to great lengths from pre through post production to achieve these experiences while virtually eliminating motion sickness in the viewer. We used a variety of tools to achieve this including a Quick Crane, a Ronin-S and a body rig that we custom made.

The POV is always situated in the story - you are viewing either as the AI device in Emi's living room or through Emi's VR goggles in the game world - thus you are fully integrated in the story - you are never a "ghost". I also chose to do away with the mute character convention. I believe the VR format is too young for there to be "rules". I find that a POV character not being able to talk has the opposite effect of drawing attention to itself and is thus a distraction from the immersive narrative.

GEIMU was made at a fraction of the cost of most VR films currently in the market. The project was made possible by Google and VRScout's VR180 Lab, a program that provided training and resources to filmmakers to make VR180 videos for YouTube, with additional funding paid out of my own pocket.

GEIMU is an exploration of the intersection of VR and film. While interactivity is a key component of games in VR, it was my intent with this film to make it immersive yet able to be enjoyed passively as with a traditional 2D film. It is designed to keep the viewer engaged with a well-paced plot that unfolds with continual surprises. There is plenty of action and assorted details throughout each scene that reward multiple viewings. Several lengthy scenes are single takes with complex choreography.

From my experience on this VR film, I am truly excited by the potential that VR has for cinematic storytelling. For over a century cinema has been experienced as a glowing rectangle but now with virtual reality, those boundaries are gone. It is very exciting as we traverse this uncharted territory, and I look forward to seeing the format continuously evolve.
I truly hope that you enjoy this unique and thrilling cinematic VR experience.