Storyboard for Virtual Reality Music Video

Storyboarding for VR is different than for movies or even video games. We need to work with the areas of users’ attention, as there are no frames in VR. 

The field of view and the distance are two parameters we must work within. It’s been stated that for the head-mounted displays, the optimal distance for objects and interactions is between 0.5-10meters. This is the area for placing all the important content in the experience. 20m is the absolute maximum limit of the 3D stereoscopic depth perception.  

When it comes to a head rotation, the total movement reaches 94-degrees, with comfortable head rotation at 30-degrees side to the side, up to the maximum of 55 (all in a seated position)¹.  

Knowing that we can start working on a VR storyboard where we need to place objects withing the virtual space, in a relation to the user. Storyboarding helps us prepare and plan the experience, long before we will work on it in a computer software.  

One of the projects set up for us this term is to make a VR Music Video. To start working on this assignment we need to gain some knowledge, skills and understanding of the processes involved in the whole production. Storyboarding is one of the above elements. That’s why we need to understand how it works in VR and implement it in our own creations. 

As an exercise, we were working on a basic storyboard for a fragment of the Les Miserables musical. Every person in my group was to produce a simple Padlet presenting what the user will experience in the VR version of Do you hear the people sing? 

Next, we had to decide on the song we want to use in our VR MV project and start working on a storyboard for it.  

To understand the storyboarding for MV and VR, I came back to the material from the lecture we had had, and I have done some additional research.  

I found out that when creating a storyboard for a music video, first, I should listen to my chosen song as many times as possible, to know it well and understand the emotions, actions etc. This is not an easy and short process; it takes hours or even days. Second, the story and the dynamics of the action are based on a music type and pace. Third, movements or in my case animations, must be fluent and match the above elements. These three need to be acknowledged and understand before the rest of the work can commence.  

The song, I have decided to work on is How Far I’ll Go from MOANA movie (Walt Disney Animation Studios, 2016). I’ve spent many hours on listening to it, pausing and listening again, while producing my storyboard for Virtual Reality Music Video for it. I’m quite satisfied with my work so far, but at the same time I think that there’s always room for improvement, so might change some details as I work on the actual product. 

In my storyboard I divided the song into small sections, added basic sketches and comments describing the action and the environment. The next step is to follow it while working on the character for animation, actual animations, light effects and potential interactions. All that on Unity, a cross-platform game engine used, amongst other, for animation. It’s a practical implementation of the knowledge provided to us during the lectures and labs within last few months and, what’s more exciting, a process of making my first VR Music Video.  

¹ https://virtualrealitypop.com/storyboarding-in-virtual-reality-67d3438a2fb1