Bonjour India was in the city for a workshop titled ‘Virtual Reality Labs: The Future of Storytelling’. Headed by French filmmaker Arnault Labaronne, the workshop was held in Bengaluru last week across a few venues.
Arnault commenced his film journey with a 52-minute docu-fiction for the French television and later forayed into films, starting with a short film, Appel D’Air. The director, who has made many films as an Independent filmmaker, talks to Metroplus about his workshop in Bengaluru.
Tell us about the unusual title of your workshop -- ‘Virtual Reality’. They are just opposites words.
The idea is to recreate some kind of reality with our works and yet work in the virtual realm. The work was done recalling reality and creating interactive experiences, which I believe become a beyond reality experience as the work progresses.
What about the ‘Future of storytelling’ which was also a part of your workshop?
I am a filmmaker and interact as one. I am curious about new forms of narrations and languages that we can use and recreate something new, which is virtual and real. You can immerse people in reality and as a filmmaker you don’t have to use the stage, but use the frames and reels to narrate stories and build it up and it becomes virtual. This way storytelling comes out very different. The user has more freedom in this media. That way, for me, storytelling today is a mix between theatre, video games and cinema.
How was your experience working with Indian directors, light designers and storytellers?
People here are artistically oriented. They are not afraid to express themselves, no matter what medium or forms they use. That according to me is powerful and reaches out to others powerfully too.
You have worked in commercials, cinema, web series and documentaries. Which would you say is a powerful medium?
I find cinema the most powerful medium as I like to give the audience an emotion that moves them. What interests me most is the way they connect with the characters on screen. Today with technology, my films can be watched on a Smartphone or a tablet. But, it may not feel like what I want it to be felt like. The viewer can be interrupted with a call or a message and can lose the connectivity with the emotion I am trying to connect them with.
But that cannot happen with the cinema as they make time and choose a space to watch a film. The reality of the story will touch them in a powerful way. With no controls in their hands they get immersed in my narration. That is what makes me passionate about cinema.
I don’t like television as the viewer get distracted easily and sometimes is blindly switching across channels.
What do you look forward to in India?
To collaborate with filmmakers here as that will only expand my horizons but also be an enriching experience.
