Will There Ever Be Mass Adoption of Immersive Entertainment?

PLUS: "Moana 2"’s Journey From TV Series to Film

Author

Steve
December 17, 2024

Greetings Hollywood tech nerds!

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Will There Ever Be Mass Adoption of Immersive Entertainment?

I like to think of myself as fairly “in the know” when it comes to the intersection of entertainment and tech. After all, I write a newsletter about it! I’d hope I would be at least vaguely aware of all new developments.

It’s with some shame, then, that I admit I had completely missed the release of Submerged, which was “the first scripted short film shot in Apple Immersive Video for the Vision Pro” according to The Verge back in October, directed by Conclave-helmer Edward Berger. You can check out a trailer for Submerged below.

Now, I can’t feel too foolish about this, because it’s a sort of running joke that Apple is constantly producing interesting stuff that nobody sees. Additionally, and not to toot my own horn, but my take on the AVP (Apple Vision Pro, not Alien Vs Predator) back in February proved pretty prescient:

I think the $3500 price tag will keep the Vision Pro out of any widespread adoption, but I agree with Zuck that it will create more general interest in these tools and likely push sales of other, less expensive headsets.

Will it be an industry-changing device like the iPhone? That’s less certain to me. Until the technology can be worn like a pair of sunglasses instead of a heavy, clunky headset with limited battery power, it won’t achieve any sort of mass adoption, price point or not.

Apple is significantly scaling back production of its initially popular Vision Pro headsets, and may even cease making the item by the end of the year, The Information reports…

Some users have complained that Vision Pro has difficulty fitting on their faces, while others say the device has caused head and neck pain.

Some have even said their headset gave them black eyes.

So, perhaps I am not totally out of it and it’s more about Apple rushing to market a product with an extremely limited user base, and so entertainment made exclusively for that product probably wouldn’t break through in any significant way.

The film does look very cool, and the details of its production are fascinating for a production tech nerd like me… at least, as far as this glossy Apple-produced BTS goes:

All that said, I tend to agree with Victoria Song, who writes in the aforementioned Verge article:

That’s sort of the quagmire all mixed reality tech is stuck in. It can be magical. When you try it, you can see why some people are inspired and excited. And then, when you inevitably take the headsets off, it’s hard to explain to anyone why the world inside the headset is better than the one outside it. “Pushing boundaries” isn’t all that convincing of a reason. Watching Submerged is like this, too. For all the artistry and technological prowess that went into making this film, I’ve never needed the Vision Pro to imagine how terrifying a sinking submarine could be. It’s just not necessary for immersing yourself in a good story.

Moana 2’s Journey From TV Series to Film

If you have younger children, it’s likely you are very familiar with the Disney film Moana 2, a box office juggernaut which contributed to the biggest Thanksgiving weekend ever. The childless are naturally very confused:

No Anny, it’s not weird, because 8 year olds are typically not found discussing the merits of movies on Twitter!

Something I didn’t know and was surprised to learn was that Moana 2 began as a Disney+ limited series and it wasn’t until early 2024 that it was officially switched from being a series to a movie releasing in November of the same year. That’s crazy!

Check out co-writer Dana Ledoux Miller’s episode on The Writers Panel for all the behind the scenes info on how they pulled this off.

Dana Ledoux Miller (Moana 2) | The Writers Panel

Find the way... to a good script.

shows.acast.com/nerdistwriters/episodes/6744fdb731b12b5319bb41ee

Here’s a round-up of cool and interesting links about Hollywood and technology:

Ed Zitron’s blistering take on how tech is actively ruining our lives. (link)

The incredible production design of The Brutalist. (link)

The truly dangerous algorithms running our world. (link)