A few months ago I ordered myself a Google Cardboard VR visor and started checking out some of the new content being produced for that medium. I like new gadgets as much as anybody, but I came at this with some skepticism. As a filmmaker, I relish composition and framing as storytelling techniques, and editing is my best friend. A 360 camera placed in a scene and left to roll one long unedited take sounds like a pretty good surveillance method, but is it really storytelling? Rather than just consuming raw data, I like having my news filtered through a thoughtful storyteller.

This week, I tried out three recent VR stories on the NYTVR app. They all approached this medium in very different ways. I was surprised by some of the things they accomplished and I have a new respect for the possibilities. In this post, I’ll try to find something we can learn from each piece, both for our traditional video projects and perhaps for future 360 projects we may undertake.

If you haven’t tried Google Cardboard yet, here’s a primer: This is the poor man’s virtual reality. It’s literally just a folded cardboard visor that you drop your phone into. I’m using an iPhone 5S and it works great. You definitely want to use headphones too, for that immersive experience. I find it always takes me a minute to get my eyes focused in that weird way that makes the double images merge into one. (It’s sort of like those magic eye posters that we all stared into at the mall in the 90s.) Once your eyes adjust, it’s a surprisingly mesmerizing experience. As you swing your head from left to right or up and down, the images track with your movements with impressive precision. I found that sitting in a rotating chair is a good way to be able to quickly spin around and scan a scene (and not get dizzy and fall down).

Below are the pieces I watched and what I learned. You can watch The Contenders on the web here without using the visor, but it’s obviously not the same. There’s a couple of very interesting “making-of” articles by the directors of the other pieces here.

The Contenders (8:50): 360 cameras were placed throughout the crowd and sometimes on stage at campaign rallies of the presidential frontrunners. A narrator’s voice sets each scene and gives the piece some structure, but the footage is largely left to speak for itself in long unedited takes. I found this surprisingly compelling and in fact, I immediately wanted to watch it again. What I loved the most were the scenes where you were right in the middle of the crowd. I enjoyed scanning the crowd and picking out one person to watch reacting to what the candidate said. I realized there were dozens of different people to watch and I wanted to look again to find new faces that I missed. This is some excellent showing instead of telling, and it occurred to me that in some ways this is more “objective” than traditional video journalism. As a viewer, I was free to frame the scene any way I wanted, or at least any way that was visible from the vantage point chosen by the filmmaker.

American Bison-from the Sundance Collection (2:59): At first. this one felt like a glorified wildlife web camera, like the kind that has a remote control and you can point the camera in any direction. But when those bison walked right up to the lens and started sniffing, the immersive image paired with the intimate sounds sent chills down my spine. The audio was great, but I didn’t notice any stereophonic effects, where the sounds seem to come from a certain direction. I didn’t hear that technique used in any of these videos, but I would think it’s possible and would only elevate these experiences to a whole new level. From this piece I learned that getting close up with both audio and video can really amplify the emotional experience of a scene.

Kiya-from the Sundance Collection (7:12): This one is the most traditional “story”, and it is powerful stuff. Though the concept at first seemed crass to me: Using real audio from 911 calls, a domestic violence scene is recreated with 3D animation. A cartoon reenactment of a tragic event sounded like it might be in bad taste, but it was riveting and emotionally moving. This one reminded me that a compelling story can carry any piece, no matter what production techniques are used. I quickly forgot that I was watching an animation and was hanging on every moment as the story unfolded.

These three pieces changed my attitude about VR filmmaking. There are clearly many storytelling possibilities with this new medium. Have any of you seen a VR piece that you recommend I watch?