Now in its 14th year, the Dam Short Film Festival (DSFF) spent the past four days showcasing over 100 short films from around the world. And thanks to a new partnership with Las Vegas-based VR Fest, DSFF was able to bring an element of Virtual Reality to the program.
Running from 2-6 p.m. every day from Feb. 8-11 inside the Boulder Dam Hotel, the Virtual Reality Lounge let festival goers see films with immersive VR headsets.
Chris Crescitelli, who founded VR Fest, says that virtual reality offers a new palette of tools for filmmakers to work with, including new cinematography techniques and 360-degree audio cues.
"Your talent, direction, acting is different in VR," said Crescitelli. "It sort of combines what you love about stage and cinema into one unique platform.
On the business side of things, DSFF founder Lee Lanier sees virtual reality, as well as the recently-added music video series, as a way to bring more attention to the festival.
"By expanding the festival with these two mediums, our attending audience and sponsors are going to see more depth and continued growth,” Lee said.
"VR is huge right now," added DSFF Publicist Tanya Vece. "In fact, Hulu recently announced two new SyFy shows, shot in 360 video, due for release via Hulu’s own VR app. Our Festival is going to be right on the forward-thinking crest of this medium."
