Parminder BahraExecutive Producer, EMEAThe Wall Street JournalVR | 360 Video

@sanityclaus

Meet and Greet - thanks host, j.co.uk

VR | 360 Video : Why?

-- A fantastic tool for videomakers and storytellers-- An experience quite unlike any other - short of live theatre-- 2016 IS the year of VR - Sony announced last night its VR headset - one of many product makers that are gambling on VR

VR | 360 Video : The ContextThe Wall Street JournalNewspaper/Legacy MediaTechnological Jumps?

-- WSJ is 127 years old - legacy media-- Like legacy - only 10 years in the video business-- Not a bad thing - emerging markets analogy with landline and mobile phones.-- VR is very much a WIP - need to experiment to get the best out of it

VR | 360 Video Evolution of VR at The Wall Street Journal

Examples

Roller coaster:Graphics dept - not video Anecdotally, people remember more about the Nasdaq after watching thisLaptop experience great - headset a little less so

IKEA Carpet factoryTake care - wind blew over the tripod and smashed the lensCant stand next to it like conventional videoWe play spot the videographer - heres Karan doing a bad job :-) - 1:00Reporter went to IKEA with the story and they went for it. Really liked the outcome

Chicken factoryUS food giant Cargill - got access to their factory in Thailand 2:22Learned a lot about scriptingThe storys complexity needed a lot about explaining but its visually really strong - Willy WonkaBut you have to balance what people see with what they hear

Behind the Scenes with a Ballerina at Lincoln Center {Sarah Lane, a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre}Our first 360 video - 350Emotionally most engagingI love the shots behind the stage - unique insight

NY FashionFirst person interview - 00:00Best with VR goggles than a screenNeeded staging like a play. There is no shot or rectangle to fill - so where do you place the interviewee? more later on thisShot Sunday - published Tuesday evening

VR | 360 Video: Some ObservationsWhat is success?We want the watch effort to be worthwhile.There is no serendipity in 360 video

Metrics? Traffic, awards, peer praise and recognition - probably all of the above but its early days.If you thought the jump from articles to 2D video raised the engagement bar then 2D - 360 is even greaterSerendipity - For now, its harder to engage with 360 if you havent got your headset plugged in. Social feeds not as effectiveI still put off watching 360 until later - its an event

VR | 360 Video: Shape of Things to Come

So where do we think its all going?

VR | 360 Video: More ObservationsTechnologyPracticalitiesPromotion

Tech is moving fast - Sony joined the headset ranks with it PSVR announcements last nightAt MWC, in Barcelona - worlds largest mobile event - 360 cameras were at the foreLG, Samsung, Nikon and Ricoh all have 360 cameras - some as cheap as 299Manufacturers are backing 360 tech - they expect it to take off

PracticalitiesAs mentioned earlier, watching is still an eventThe PR demo last week

PromotionWere still working out where to promote and when best to publishWell get a buzz now but as it gets more ubiquitous well need to figure this out. Its a different beast to articles and 2D video

VR | 360 Video: NarrativesAbstract Versus RealPoint of ActionVideo Archive

Abstract versus realEast City Films - 7/7 documentary - Play clip 00:30Makes us want to experiment - fairy lights on a dollyTheatre de Complicite - The Encounter - audio opportunitiesOpportunities for storytelling are extraordinary

Point of action:There is so much more visual spaceBring person into a worldPeople feel like they are there. In the NY fashion piece - people ask who was that person sitting to my left. They feel part of it - different to 2D experience.

Video ArchiveIn the newsroom - archive is really important - how can we use this?Verge did a nice treatment - PLAY CLIP 03:30But time consuming and requires expertise

VR | 360 Video: Vanity Projects?UGC Video in NewsroomPlatforms are Embracing - eg FacebookDavid Clinch, Storyful,: Can we use non-360 shot video to create 360video?

So - will 360 only be for vanity projects rather than a regular newsroom tool?

Possibly but let me leave you with these thoughtsUGC video has transformed video in newsrooms - expectation that there will be video of all events nowDavid Clinch, Global News Editor of Storyful - in converstionTech firms are supporting 360Platforms such as Facebook and YouTube are supporting itSo there will be lots of it aroundBut what about existing 2D footage of events? Multiple videos from various angles.What is software can stitch all this together? Then we might have a really strong newsroom toolTHANK YOU!