The specifics of VR cinema and the new cinematic language

Khotin Demid Maksimovich ORCID: 0000-0002-3644-3079 PhD student; Faculty of Art History; Institute of Cinema and Television (GITR) Assistant Director; MAGIC FACTORY ANIMATION 32A Khoroshevskoe Highway, Moscow, 125284, Russia, Central Federal District demid.khotin@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction. VR movies (Virtual Reality Films) are cinematic paintings and animated films that are created through the use of virtual reality technologies. To watch this type of movie, you need to use specialized equipment: headphones and VR glasses. Often, while watching VR films, it is also suggested to use special electronic devices - controllers, with which you can observe your virtual hands and body, as well as interact with the surrounding space inside the film.
A scientific problem. Cinema and animation containing virtual reality are a related art form to classical cinema and animation. However, VR cinema and animation have a number of differences from traditional animation and cinematography, which manifest themselves on different levels. This article provides a structural analysis of VR cinema (both as a phenomenon in general and specific examples from the industry) in order to understand the specifics of creating a new cinema language of films with the inclusion of virtual reality.
The purpose of the article is to consider the specific features of VR cinema, its film language and the possibilities of its reliance on the classical film language.
Research objectives:
1. Analyze cinema for virtual reality on several levels that are in close interaction with each other: technological, artistic, and human perception levels.
2. Consider several films of the 2010s and 2020s as examples of illustrating the principles of virtual cinema and compare their artistic means with each other, as well as analyze the evolution of the VR film language, which it has gone through from the 2010s to the present day.
The theoretical basis of the research was two fundamental monographs on virtual cinematography by V. N. Novikov and M. Blades, a PhD thesis by P. I. Braslavsky, a number of articles by domestic researchers published in peer–reviewed journals of the Higher Attestation Commission and the Russian Research Center for Higher Education and Science, and several relevant articles by foreign scientists.
The main part. VR cinema is an innovative type of modern cinema that offers users an exclusive experience of immersion in a film, allowing them to interact with the characters and environment contained in its space. The viewer sees everything happening around him in the first person. If desired, he has the ability to independently change the viewing angle. Thus, by fully immersing themselves in the film, the viewer becomes part of the plot. He finds himself in the center of events, where he can interact with objects, and with additional interactive features, even communicate with characters.
VR cinema, in the modern sense of the word, that is, as a digital type of cinematography, appeared in the early 2010s. However, as T. V. Petrosyan rightly notes in his article, the features of this trend were observed in some films of an earlier time, dating back to classical cinema ^[1]. In them, the directors have already used some techniques of virtual reality and interactivity. So, it was done by representatives of authorial, experimental cinema: Lars von Trier, Peter Greenway, Mike Figgis.
The specifics of the new language of digital VR cinema should be considered on three levels, distinguishing it from the classical cinema language.
The technological level. VR cinema differs from classical cinema in the way it takes pictures and demonstrates the work. The technology involves watching a movie through a special headset – a virtual reality helmet that cuts off a person's hearing and vision from objective reality and completely immerses his senses in virtual reality.
As already mentioned, special technologies and equipment are required to create VR films. During the shooting, several cameras with the same technical parameters are used simultaneously. The camera lenses are mounted in different directions, and each of them captures a certain area of space in a separate video file. Then all these files are joined together using special programs and create a special spherical frame.
Thus, a spherical video camera captures the entire space around it. During filming, it is important for the director to carefully consider the setting of the shot, to take into account the nuances of the entire location. O. V. Dobrynin, analyzing the concept of spherical cinema, notes that when creating a VR film, cameras must be installed in such a way as to hide auxiliary objects: additional lighting, microphones, and the film crew ^[2]. Thus, the director has to constantly experiment with editing methods and transitions of plans, and look for new options.
In VR cinema, axial and radial motion dynamics shift. This moment is vividly reflected in the promo video "The Time of the first VR 360". Based on the analysis of this promo video by I. Bobylev, we note that it combines two points of view - from the first person (the mise en scene of the rocket takeoff and the hero's first spacewalk) and from the third person (the camera circling around the rocket, the mise en scene of the astronaut who went into outer space, connected to the spacecraft) ^[3].
In VR films, the role of in-frame editing is increasing. A virtual reality camera captures the surrounding space, therefore, when setting a frame and choosing a shooting point, it is necessary to direct the user's attention and arrange the actions of the characters in such a way that the viewer can look around and follow objects moving in space.
In addition, there is an increasing need to increase the duration of VR frames. Traditional frames immediately draw the user's attention to key objects. When viewing VR footage, the viewer needs much more time to fully perceive what is happening.
In VR cinema, there is also a strengthening of the role of the installation principle based on the compositional center. According to M. V. Nikonov, when watching a movie in a virtual headset, one can observe a spatial panorama by turning one's head ^{[4, p. 95]}.
With the help of special software and plug-ins, a variety of visual effects, animated graphics and spatial sound mixing are integrated. The sound effects used in VR movies enhance the immersive experience. According to S. A. Shelestov, sound in virtual reality becomes three-dimensional because it changes its intensity and direction depending on the user's movement ^[5].
Artistic level. Based on the analysis of the artistic means of VR films by researchers A. Matkin and A. Utkin, we note that in virtual cinema there are completely different editing possibilities (there is practically no traditional editing), space works in a completely different way, unlike ordinary cinema [6 p. 126] ^[7]. All this has an impact on the artistic properties of the film. VR films are characterized by limited timekeeping, that is, they are short films, the duration of which often does not exceed 15-20 minutes. .
The effect of the viewer's complete immersion in space is created due to a number of specific artistic techniques, including:

• creating a spherical space and a 360-degree view, so that the action unfolds right around the observer;
• interactivity (the viewer is not only fully immersed in what is happening, but also has the ability to control a virtual camera);
• the predominance of first-person shots, due to which the viewer sees his own body and begins to perceive himself in the body of any actor;
• the use of several types of mise-en-scene: from the first person; active from the third; passive from the third; synthesis of several mise-en-scenes;
• the use of surround sound;
• Abandoning traditional screen borders.

According to the foreign researcher D. F. Nicolae, the absence of screen frames (VR films are shown in panoramic or 3D space) leads to the elimination of the distance between the viewer and the frame ^{[8, p. 168]}. Researcher A. V. Matkin sees the effect of blurring the boundaries between the virtual and real world also in the use of three-dimensional interactive sound, which changes its properties depending on the actions of the viewer: head turns, gaze delays on an object, interaction with various interactive zones ^{[9, p. 43]}.
Despite the fact that the VR industry has achieved great success in the technological aspect, there are still questions about the artistic aspect. Although virtual cinema is considered one of the types of modern art, its artistry remains at a low level. At the moment, this field is waiting for artists, directors, and cameramen who will be able to bring the aesthetic qualities of VR films to a new level. For the tasks that VR creators face, it is useful to study the basics of other media and art forms, such as literature, theater, cinema, architecture, and video games. In works for virtual reality, the importance of combining space and the viewer increases. According to M. Blades, knowledge of the principles of architecture helps in the implementation of ideas related to the management of the viewer's attention and orientation in space, and cinema and video games can offer a comprehensive understanding of audiovisual and interactive techniques ^{[10, p. 137]}.
The level of human perception. VR cinema, unlike conventional cinema, is associated with completely different principles of perception of what is happening to the viewer, who is also a participant in the events. Due to the complete immersion in the VR space, the freedom to control the camera, the viewer moves away from the position of an outside observer and finds himself in the center of events. He can try on various roles, and with additional interactive features, he can interact closely with objects and communicate with characters. This creates a new level of emotional response from the user, which is impossible to achieve with the help of traditional cinema.
VR cinema techniques allow you to better understand the context and importance of what is happening. With the help of virtual reality, viewers can see events not only from an observer's perspective, but also be in the center of what is happening. Viewing VR content enhances the user's empathy and emotional response to a certain extent, as it promotes deeper immersion.
In VR cinema, a user can try on three roles – a hero, a witness, and an impostor – and experience three experiences of perceiving a film ^{[8, p. 168]}. Trying on the role of a hero, the viewer is in the center of the action and retains his identity; in the image of a witness, the user is an outside observer who cannot influence the course of the action, and his presence is ignored by other characters; in the role of an impostor, the viewer assimilates with the character, whose identity begins to be imposed on the user.
M. C. Reyes and G. Dettori note that the perception of a digital 360-degree (spherical) image requires the viewer to coordinate different sensory languages in virtual space, but this coordination blocks the user's real senses (vision, hearing). As a result, the viewer has to "live" and act in a new reality ^{[11, p. 132]}.
In his monograph, V. N. Novikov reveals the important difference between paintings created using VR technology and traditional films produced for the classical cinema screen. It consists in the fact that the latter appeal to the mass consciousness of the public, to the "collective interlocutor" in the auditorium, and VR paintings appeal to the individual sense of self of a particular user, who can simultaneously act both as a spectator and as an actor ^{[12, p. 126]}.
Considering the new film language created by virtual reality technologies, researchers compare it with other types of modern art. For example, they find the proximity of VR movies to video games. This is due to the creation of the effect of visual depth and the maximum immersion of the user into the space of the film as a result of the absence of classic editing glues. Nevertheless, some researchers note that VR movies are more hypnotic and meditative in nature and yet less prone to interactivity, unlike video games, which have more plasticity and require more active user behavior. The hypnotism and contemplation of VR cinema is that it seems to immerse the viewer in a dream ^{[12, p. 125]}.
The results of one of the surveys of people who experienced the experience of VR cinema are interesting, regarding which direction they attributed it more to video games or cinema: 56.3% said that they compared their user experience with the perception of cinema, and 43.7% compared it with familiarization with a video game ^{[11, p. 146]}. Moreover, the survey was conducted among people of three age categories. The youngest group did not make any special distinctions between the two directions. The average group had a greater advantage in the direction of cinema. The survey of the older group clearly showed that older users perceive the VR genre as cinema.
P. I. Braslavsky notes in his dissertation that the innovative language of VR cinema, despite all the differences, is to some extent close not only to traditional cinema and video games, but also to modern plastic and performing arts (painting installations, sculpture, music, theater, choreography) ^{[13, p. 8]}.
If we consider the question of whether it is possible to apply the techniques of conventional cinema language to VR films, then the concepts of Krakauer, Tarkovsky and Bazin, who reflected on the "continuity of time" and the immersion of the viewer in a meditative state, are the closest in this regard ^{[14, p. 74]}. However, even if these concepts are applicable in VR cinema, they will be perceived completely differently when used in VR. All this is because ordinary cinema only creates the effect of immersing the viewer and his presence in the space of the film using various dramatic tools. Whereas in a VR movie, the viewer is really present in the virtual world, being in the place of the one who controls the camera.
According to Dan Chen and Fan Yang, classical cinema techniques are not always applicable when creating VR films, however, VR film techniques are actively used by directors in conventional films, as this increases the efficiency of filming, reduces the cost of setting up real scenes and saves human and time resources ^[15] .
Reflecting on the functional significance of VR films in the life of society, it is worth noting not only its entertainment function. A number of researchers, for example, S. D. Karakozov, Yu. V. Fedorova, S. Yu. Tokhtueva, N. B. Tralkova and A. N. Rakhmatullaev believe that VR cinema can be put at the service of science and education ^{[16, p. 31] [17, p. 50]}. Thus, the achievements and effects of this type of art can make it a useful tool in educational and research activities. Virtual technologies allow you to simulate a complex spatial, visual and auditory environment, so they are able to increase the degree of clarity of the subjects studied, help in conducting any experimental experiments, as well as increase the level of motivation and interest of students.
Speaking about the cinema language of VR cinema, it is important to note that when creating a VR work, the immersive (immersive) effect, which is achieved through interactive features, reduces the level of totalitarianism of the director, who cannot fully control the direction of the viewer's gaze. In this regard, the directors have to look for new ways to manipulate the audience's attention.
Analysis of examples and trends. To analyze the technologies and techniques of VR cinema, we will analyze a number of films of this genre. Let's look at the paintings of the 2010s and 2020s and compare their artistic language and its evolution over time.
One of the characteristic and iconic VR films of the 2010s is The Pearl, directed by Patrick Osborne. This film brings to life the story of a girl and her father, who travel in an old car across the United States of America. During the journey, they compose music that acts as the main narrator in the film. The viewer watches the action from the front passenger seat of the car. It offers a panoramic view of all the events taking place in the film.
The film "Pearl" uses typical VR cinema techniques, although there are some liberties and even deviations from the standards. The director manages the audience's attention. He places the entire action in the car, where the passenger seat becomes the center of the spatial composition. The user gets a 360-degree view to observe what is happening around.
The film "Pearl" uses special techniques of VR-editing, which differs significantly from the classical one. There are about thirty car scenes in the film, which are constructed by the animators as "frame by frame". This technique made it possible to make sharp glues between the mise-en-scenes and create an integral spherical space.
The narrative in the film is conducted on behalf of the "witness". The user here acts only as a simple observer, peeping at the characters in the action taking place in front of him. For this purpose, theatrical lighting effects and "floating islands of the stage" are used in the film. Different light sources, which are shown in different forms, attract the viewer's gaze. They direct him in different directions as the story unfolds. However, even if the viewer decides not to look at the central action of the cartoon, its creators have built the surrounding space in such a way that it provides the viewer with information about what is happening and tells the story, regardless of the direction of the viewer's gaze. This was expressed in the change of seasons, day and night, locations outside the car, objects inside the car and the condition of the car itself. There's no point in a cartoon where something doesn't happen sooner or later.
Another film that embodies the characteristic and even typical principles of VR cinema in the 2010s is Battlescar, directed by Martín Allais and Nico Casavecchia. The film recreates the atmosphere of gloomy New York in 1978, which is shown through the eyes of two teenage twins, Lupe and Debbie, who ran away from home. The authors use the following techniques: switching between large scenes and small pictures, as if floating in the air, scale manipulation (the viewer is watching the world from a bird's-eye view of the world, then returns to the company of the twins and looks at them "face to face"), masterly transitions of scenes, complemented by various environmental inclusions, lighting effects. A special role in the film is played by the use of words (voiceover). They serve as a kind of pivot, an anchor that periodically brings the viewer back to the story being told.
I must say that the VR films of recent years differ in artistic language from the films of the 2010s. After 2020, there is a turn towards greater interactivity, viewer participation in the action, and influence on it. Tactile feedback plays a particularly important role in VR films of the 2020s, which allows the user to feel real physical interaction with the characters. The development of these trends is a reaction to the fact that the viewer of VR cinema often lacks interactive features, which are limited solely by gaze control. Using the example of the experience of getting acquainted with the VR work "ZENA", we can observe that the frequent initial reaction of the viewer is a test of the boundaries of interactive possibilities. The audience is completely immersed in the virtual world and "disconnected" from the real one, which leads to an instinctive desire to interact with the environment and characters ^{[11, p. 143]}. The expansion of interactive features brings VR cinema even closer to video games, but this interactivity differs from that present in traditional games. Since the predominant beginning in these works is still cinematic, rather than video game, interactivity in VR films exists within the framework of a form that Lev Manovich defines in his monograph "The Language of New Media" as "closed interactivity", in which the viewer exercises his freedom and active role within the framework of pre-generated elements ^[18]. Thus, the viewer's freedom, which is achieved by expanding the interactive capabilities of VR cinema, is imaginary and represents dramatic manipulation in order to immerse the viewer in the narrative.
New trends are clearly evident in the animated film "In the Land of the Flabby Schnooks", created by director Francis Gelinas. The plot of the film is based on a little boy who is afraid of the dark. His older sister is trying to help him overcome these fears in various ways. In this film, the viewer has the opportunity to take an active part in the action taking place, to have a direct impact on it. Characters turn to him with requests for help.
The evolution of the artistic language of VR cinema is also expressively traced in the film "We Live Here", which was created by American director Rose Troche. The virtual film, with a significant amount of interactivity, tells the story of a sixty-year-old Rocky woman who has become homeless and lives on the street. A woman spends the night in an illegally erected tent. A friend who finds himself in the same life situation comes to her and explains that she needs to leave as soon as possible, as the police will soon arrive and arrest them for illegally setting up a tent.
After the woman leaves the tent, the spectator remains in it. A significant part of the action in the film is related to the exploration of this tent The user becomes a physical and emotional participant in the action – he can move, pick up and examine a woman's personal belongings, read her diary entries. Thus, the viewer has the opportunity to experience the personal tragedy of the heroine. In this film, the evolution of the artistic language of VR cinema reaches a more subtle and complex level - the viewer's penetration not only into the physical, but also into the psychological world of the hero.
Conclusion. The article examined the specific features of VR cinema and its artistically expressive language that distinguish it from traditional cinema, which is as follows:

• The technological level of VR cinema dictates its own rules for creating works, which is reflected in a special way of shooting and developing a mise en scene, in which it is important to take into account the spherical space of the stage. Also, this level dictates its own specifics of familiarization with the work, which consists in using a virtual reality helmet. The helmet completely disconnects the viewer from the real world, immersing him in the virtual one.

• At the artistic level, VR cinema has completely different artistic and editing capabilities due to its technological features. Traditional screen borders are being abandoned. There is a predominance of first-person shots. There is practically no traditional installation. The role of intra-frame editing is increasing. The need for the duration of VR frames is increasing. The role of the installation principle in the composition center is being strengthened. For the high-quality implementation of VR cinema, the authors have a need for a comprehensive study of the basics of literature, architecture, cinema and video games. Individual researchers have identified the hypnotic, meditative properties of the VR film language. In this regard, VR cinema can also find practical and theoretical support in the concepts of Krakauer, Tarkovsky and Bazin, who reflected on the "continuity of time" and immersing the viewer in a meditative state.

• At the level of human perception, VR cinema differs from traditional cinema in that the viewer combines the functions of an outside observer and participant in events. Another distinguishing feature of VR cinema from traditional cinema is the presence of several possible roles for the viewer, which differ in the degree of immersion in the diegetic world. At the moment, there are three roles: the hero, the witness, and the impostor.

In the course of the study, several films of the 2010s and 2020s were considered as examples of illustrating the principles of virtual cinema, a comparative analysis of their artistic means was made, and the evolution of the VR film language, which it has undergone from the 2010s to the present day, characterized by increased interactivity, tactile effect, and psychological immersion of the viewer in the plot, was analyzed. However, the interactive possibilities of VR cinema exist in their "closed" form, which creates the effect of imaginary freedom and is a dramatic manipulation.
In the process of writing the work, the author came to the conclusion that VR cinema has reached great heights in technical and technological aspects, in the field of immersing the viewer in virtual reality, in the field of managing the viewer's attention and perception. At the same time, in the age of accelerated scientific and technological progress, VR cinema is waiting for new discoveries in the field of technology. Thus, the article outlines the prospects for the further development of the VR cinema genre.