Storytelling for Virtual Reality

John Bucher is an award-winning writer and narrative consultant based out of Los Angeles, California. He is a regular contributor to VirtualRealityPop.com, LA-Screenwriter.com, HBO.com, and MovieMaker Magazine. He co-hosts The Inside Out Story Podcast, The Westworld Watch Podcast, and currently teaches at the LA Film Studies Center, where he leads courses in Virtual Reality storytelling and filmmaking. A popular speaker, John has given talks on five continents regarding story, technology, and art. He is completing a PhD in mythology and depth psychology and is the author of several books including Master of the Cinematic Universe: The Secret Code For Writing in the New World of Media, Storytelling By the Numbers, and The Inside Out Story. He can be found on-line at his site, tellingabetterstory.com, and on social media @johnkbucher.

"Bucher has positioned his work as a mid-level survey of topics with the potential to revolutionize fiction and non-fiction storytelling. He surveys the complexities of POV where camera placement is ubiquitous, and where audiences are fully immersed and are, in effect, the directors of their own narrative journeys."—Kim Walker, Ph.D., Full Professor of Digital Film and Media Arts, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs"A remarkable synthesis of cutting-edge VR practice and storytelling interwoven with ancient myth and philosophy for context and clarity, interviews crucial and illuminating, and finally, a pivotal, needed framework for future VR storytelling. Master teacher John Bucher gently guides the writer into unpacking her own rich and seamless VR script."—Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran, Director, LA Film Studies Center"It’s the kind of book that will inspire you to consider what might be possible in VR storytelling and the kind of mental unpacking and re-thinking that’s required to transport our storytelling impulses into an entirely different realm of world building. (...) [The book] delivers a great combination of accessibly written academic-style theory and conversational insights which help to make the book more of a page turner than it might otherwise be. (...) this is an excellent and inspiring read for anyone looking to learn more about the emerging present and tantalising future of this new art form."- Jonny Elwyn

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTSFOREWORDCHAPTER 1: A New Reality and How We Got Here SPOTLIGHT ON DIRECTING: Storytelling in VR through Cinematic DirectingA Conversation with Jessica Brillhart, Principal Filmmaker for VR at GoogleSPOTLIGHT ON CAMERAS: Storytelling in VR through the LensA Conversation with Paul Meyhoefer, VP JK Imaging/KodakCHAPTER 2: A Stone Bridge Covered in MicrochipsSPOTLIGHT ON GAMING: Storytelling in VR through Video GamesA Conversation with Brian Allgeier, VR Game Designer, Insomniac GamesCHAPTER 3: Science and Technology behind Storytelling SPOTLIGHT ON VR SCIENCE AND STORYTELLING: Storytelling Through Data and NeurologyA Conversation with Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, Director of the Emerging Analytics Center, the University of Arkansas, Little RockSPOTLIGHT ON STORY: VR Storytelling at the Oculus Story StudioA Conversation with Jessica Shamash, Producer, and Pete Billington, Immersive StorytellerCHAPTER 4: Storytelling Principles for Immersive Space SPOTLIGHT ON IMMERSIVE THEATER: Storytelling through ImmersionA Conversation with Noah Nelson, Creator and Host of No Proscenium PodcastCHAPTER 5: Designing an Immersive NarrativeSPOTLIGHT ON NEW FRONTIERS: A Master StorytellerA Conversation with Chris Milk, Founder and CEO, WithinSPOTLIGHT ON ETHICS: Considerations for VR Storytelling A Conversation with Steve Peters, Experience Designer, Host of StoryForward Podcast, and CCO of Mo Mimes MediaEXERCISES CHAPTER 6: Characters in VRSPOTLIGHT ON ACTING: Storytelling Through Drama in Immersive ExperiencesA Conversation with Keight Leighn, ActressEXERCISES CHAPTER 7: Creating Narrative StructuresSPOTLIGHT ON VISUALIZATION: Cinematic Storytelling in VR A Conversation with Chris Edwards, Founder, Chief Production Officer, and CEO, The Third FloorSPOTLIGHT ON NARRATIVE: Fiction Versus Nonfiction Storytelling A Conversation with Steve Peters, Experience Designer, Host of StoryForward Podcast, and CCO of Mo Mimes MediaEXERCISES CHAPTER 8: Theory in Practice: Interviews and Case Studies THE STORYTELLERSINTERVIEW: Rob Bredow, Chief Technology Officer, LucasFilmINTERVIEW: Tye Sheridan and Nikola Todorovic, Creators of Aether Inc.CASE STUDY: Baobab VR StudiosINTERVIEW: Sarah Hill, CEO and Chief Storyteller, StoryUpTHE TECHNOLOGISTS AND PRODUCERSINTERVIEW: Jonathan Krusell, Google Daydream ProducerINTERVIEW: Robyn Tong Gray and Andrew Goldstein, Founders, Otherworld InteractiveCASE STUDY: Light Sail VRINTERVIEW: Tai Crosby, Founder and CEO, SilVR ThreadINTERVIEW: Adam Orth, Creative Director, Three One ZeroTHE ARTISTSINTERVIEW: Angela Haddad, VR Artist and ProducerINTERVIEW: Annie Lesser, Immersive Theater DirectorCASE STUDY: Jaunt Studios and the Invisible VR seriesINTERVIEW: Mark Cordell Holmes, Art Director, PixarTHE VISIONARIESINTERVIEW: Larry Rosenthal, VR Pioneer and ProducerINTERVIEW: Paul Debevec, Senior Staff Engineer, Google VRCASE STUDY: Lucy VR seriesINTERVIEW: Brian Rose, Google VR Team, Community and OutreachINTERVIEW: Ted Schilowitz, Futurist, 20th Century Fox StudiosGLOSSARYINDEXABOUT THE AUTHOR