SXSW2024 / Vol.04
Be sure to catch the world premiere of Netflix’s “3 Body Problem”
This is a report on the SXSW site, focusing on video-related topics. First, let me give you details on the world premiere of the Netflix Adaptation of “3 Body Problem.” The event was already reported in Vol. 03, but I actually decided to check it out.. The venue was the Paramount Theater in the city. I rushed to the site after hearing that “3 Body Problem” would have its world premiere here. Netflix really showed out at SXSW2024 with their exhibition.
Of course, there was a long line! I would have to walk several blocks just to reach the end of the line, and I began to feel disheartened, thinking that I probably wouldn’t be able to see the show.
This year, Netflix at SXSW2024 was dominated by “The Three-Body Problem,” and it seems they are serious about it. Even though it will be released on Netflix from March 21, I really want to watch it now. I’ve read all the volumes of the original manga.
I finally made it to the back of the line, but the screening had already started. A SXSW staff member handed me my numbered ticket without any problems.
The first time I went to the Paramount Theater, it was a historic venue with a wonderful vintage décor. The premiere of “Ready Player One” was held here at SXSW in 2018, and Spielberg made an appearance.
A black drawstring bag with the words “3 BODY PROBLEM” printed on it was placed on every seat. A chrome-plated curved object was pulled out from inside. Surely this must be a headset for playing the VR game that appears in the film! What’s more, it was of such high quality that it could be used for filming as is.
Apparently it was a present for all the premiere attendees. How generous of Netflix! …said the host. Then several performers stepped onto the stage, and the heat in the theater rose. Soon the lights in the theater went dark…
What, this is “Three bodies?!”
“Deden!” With all the audience watching the screen, the mere appearance of the Netflix motion logo elicited a huge cheer! The first episode then began, starting with a brutal lynching scene from the Cultural Revolution, just like the original.
However, the setting after that is… not China, unlike the original! The cast is also international, and the impression is quite different from the original, where almost all the characters are Chinese. The Chinese Tencent version of the drama “3 Body Problem” seems to be faithful to the original in both setting and characters. On the other hand, the Netflix version seems to have been replanned to target a more global audience.
After the screening of the first episode, the staff list was announced and loud cheers rang out again. Everyone gathered here was a professional filmmaker, and they were all deeply moved to be able to be present at the world premiere.
Soon, the cast began to line up in front of the screen, and the cheers rang out even louder. The official cameraman shouted, “We’re going to take a commemorative photo, so everyone put on your headset!”
The sight of all the audience members wearing shiny silver headsets was quite spectacular. As mentioned above, Netflix’s “The Three-Body Problem” will be released worldwide on March 21st. I’m looking forward to immersing myself in the magnificent world created by the original work, without worrying too much about the cast or the setting.
XR for a positive impact on the world
Let’s also touch on XR. The virtual category was introduced in the SXSW Film Division, and VR exhibits began around 2017. Now it has become more well-known and popular, and the event period was extended from two days to three this year. However, as a result of its popularity, all of the 30 or so booths are booked up immediately upon opening, making it quite difficult to see the whole exhibition.
Impulse
The first piece we’ll introduce is the British/French production “IMPULSE,” a mixed reality interactive story that depicts the reality of ADHD, where viewers can see characters worry, struggle, and speak in buildings and spaces that appear before their eyes.
At the end of each sequence, words appear again and the participant uses the left and right controllers to collect words and stick them on the walls of the space. The walls of the room are gradually covered with the words of the characters. This is an attempt to resonate with the characters’ way of thinking, learn to decipher the patterns of life, and influence the way the participant thinks.
Dani: the Portrait of a Beauty
The next experience was the Korean VR work “Dani: Portrait of a Beautiful Woman.” Based on old genre paintings, this virtual reality experience takes viewers on a journey through a realistic depiction of daily life in the Joseon Dynasty in the 1700s. Through visual art that brings to life traditional Korean genre paintings, viewers are immersed in the moving love story of Dani.
The story unfolds like a musical in the style of traditional Korean folk performing arts, which is based on a single singer and music. Participants can enjoy the experience as if they were watching a play from the audience, while also feeling as if they have entered the world of a genre painting.
The movements of the performers were motion-captured from the performances of real actors, and the performances and dances were vividly shown in the ancient painting space. The play had a total of six acts, but it had a rhythm overall and was very theatrical and easy to watch.
The structure of oral literature + music + motion-captured theatrical expression may be able to preserve the ancient theatrical culture that is disappearing in Japan in the form of XR. The VR goggles used are Meta Quest 3.
Nâ Tâu Tsí á (Sister Lin-Tou) VR
Next up from Netflix at SXSW2024 was Taiwan’s “Sister Lin Tou Y.” This piece, which features a chair that moves in sync with the video, was a big hit at the venue. The story is inspired by the tales of Sister Lin Tou, a traditional Taiwanese folk tale, and delves into the theme of the body and the universe.
The experience starts when you will on a chair and put on the goggles. As you walk through the forest that appears before your eyes, a giant foot appears in the space beyond. With a sense of scale that makes you feel like you have become a tiny insect, you move as if licking the extremely realistically drawn giant foot. The chair then moves up and down and left and right, giving you the sensation of moving three-dimensionally through the VR space. Eventually the whole body comes into view, and it is that of a terrifyingly large, totally naked woman.
As the viewer continues to crawl over her body, passing her tree-like hair, his or her vision moves to her back. A desolate, desert-like landscape called the Bardo unfolds before the viewer, where the viewer experiences the liminal space where life begins. Eventually the viewer’s perspective shifts to the front of her body, and the viewer perceives her floating in a vast space as the entire universe.
The fact that it is based on folklore and tradition shows a similarity to Korea’s Dani. The VR goggles used are made by HP.
The Tent
The last one we’ll introduce is “The Tent” from the UK. There are two tents lined up at the venue, and it’s hard to tell what’s going on inside. The experience is viewed with an iPad Pro and headphones, rather than VR goggles, and when the viewer scans a code on a desk in front of the tent, a volumetric miniature world appears on the screen. The story revolves around a tent that suddenly appears in the garden of the protagonist’s house, and the dialogue between the “someone” who continues to linger there. The story is like a modern-day fairy tale, set in Los Angeles.
In this work, the artist questions the nature of activism, asking the viewer the message, “Why is the world so complicated in order to be a good person?” The first half of the 21-minute work is viewed outside the tent, and the second half is viewed on an iPad Pro inside the tent, experiencing the perspective of another “self” living inside the tent. The decision to view the work on an iPad Pro was apparently made with the intention of scaling up the number of exhibits. Indeed, the operation was simple.
Netflix at SXSW2024: trending “For Good”
I have introduced four XR works above. The basis of my career is the advertising industry, where I worked at a major advertising agency until four years ago and had the opportunity to visit a considerable number of overseas advertising conferences. Among them, I have noticed a trend that has been gaining strength for the past decade or so. This is a trend called “For Good.”
International advertising awards are no longer just concerned with whether an ad is “interesting” or “it sold a product,” but rather with how much of a “positive impact” it has had on society, and the collective term for this is “For Good.” Perhaps this trend has also spread to XR, as all of the XR works mentioned above had the perspective of “making the world a better place (or reconstructing a classic from the past).”
Each work clearly expresses why it was necessary to create this work, and what impact it wants to have on the world. I feel as though these XR works selected by SXSW are admonishing us, as creators, to cherish that perspective, which tends to be lost in the midst of busy daily work.
