| Unit name | Immersive Production |
|---|---|
| Unit code | THTRM0014 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Paul Clarke |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
Introduction to Immersive Technologies |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one | |
| School/department | Department of Theatre |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
Realising successful immersive and interactive experiences requires specialised technical skills and production processes, which differ from those you may be familiar with from theatre, dance, music, and film and TV production. On this unit you will develop your knowledge of the techniques, technologies, and conceptual understandings involved in producing VR, AR, Mixed Reality and interactive media. Through a series of presentations/masterclasses, demonstrations, hands-on workshops and group production exercises, you will build your confidence in a range of technical skills and have the opportunity to specialise in a particular production area (e.g. 3D sound recording, or shooting 360 degree VR content). You will work in teams, applying these techniques and understanding of the technologies to producing an assessed short form interactive experience.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This mandatory unit builds on and deepens the basic expertise developed through the Group Produced 360 Film made on TB1’s Intro to Immersive Technologies and Arts. It aims to embed professional technical and conceptual competencies in the technologies and workflows of producing immersive media, so you can proceed to apply these with more autonomy in the 60CP Creative and Immersive Project. You may go on to work in production roles on these projects and to realise more technically sophisticated experiences. Others of you will build your knowledge of the technical aspects of making immersive media, such that you can more confidently direct, produce, or write for VR and AR, with the knowledge of what is possible, and the methods/techniques involved in producing such experiences. This will develop your ability to collaborate and communicate with those in other production roles in preparation for the Creative and Immersive Project.
An overview of content
You will be introduced to techniques and processes involved in the production of immersive and interactive experiences. Workshops will teach the technical skills and understanding of technologies required to produce video and audio for immersive media, e.g. operating professional HD cameras, 360° video/spherical cinematography, lighting, motion capture, green-screen, LiDAR scanning, projection-mapping, sound recording equipment (including binaural, ambisonic/3D), editing software, and the associated studio workflows. The implications of different modes of delivery and display will be considered; whether you are producing work for devices such as mobile phones, AR, VR, or Extended Reality (XR) headsets, live-streamed performance, locative media, or physical-digital installation. Having been introduced to a range of technical roles, you will be able to choose an aspect of production to specialise in and will collaborate in teams to apply the techniques/processes to producing a short immersive work. This may draw on material developed on the other TB2 units, Immersive Storytelling and/or Immersive Content Creation. This practical unit is designed to put in place foundational technical skills and understandings of production processes in preparation for working as part of an interdisciplinary team towards your Creative and Immersive Project.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
You will know about the techniques, production processes and studio workflows involved in realising VR, AR, Mixed-Reality, and interactive scenes. You will have technical skills and understanding of a range of areas of immersive production and have developed your competency in a chosen area, which you can apply in professional-level practice. You will be able to work as part of a team to technically realise a short immersive experience.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course a successful student will be able to:
1) Take on a key technical role and demonstrate your competence in this by realising a short VR, AR, MR, or interactive experience.
2) Demonstrate and critically reflect upon effective collaboration within an immersive production team.
3) Identify the technical roles and production techniques needed on different forms of immersive media project, describe and reflect upon the studio workflows involved.
4) Recognise, assess/appraise the technical needs and production processes required for different immersive forms and modes of delivery/display.
3hr weekly workshop.
This unit is taught through workshops, which will take place weekly for 10 weeks. For the first 5 weeks workshops will take the form of interactive demonstrations, technical presentations/masterclasses in particular areas of immersive production (e.g. 360 degree/VR video, 3D audio recording, motion capture), followed by hands-on student-led tasks, which enable the practical application and understanding of these techniques, skills and processes. From Week 7 students will select a production area in which to specialise and deepen their practical expertise along with an immersive form and mode of delivery/display. They will work in groups towards a summative task to be presented in Week 11/12, both developing this with technical support during the taught workshops and through individual and group independent student work. Production mentoring and formative feedback (both technical and conceptual) will be offered on work in progress shared during the weekly workshops, the interactive format of which will enable both teacher and peer-feedback and knowledge/skills exchange. The technical skills, understanding of different production processes, technologies, forms and modes of delivery/display, will be assessed through the final coursework, in which students will apply their practical learning to the production of a short immersive experience. An accompanying report will document the production process, workflow and collaboration between technical areas. The skills taught, formative and summative tasks, will be closely modelled on and linked to professional/industry production processes.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
There will be a series of formative production tasks (see below) in different technical areas. Regular verbal feedback will be given on these both by unit teachers and peers within practical workshops.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
100% Coursework:
• Production of immersive scene (60%) ILOs 1-3 (Group)
Student teams will make a short-form interactive experience for VR or AR headset, or mobile device. Each student will specialise in and take responsibility for a selected production area, whilst also contributing to all aspects of the collaborative production process.
• Reflective Report – 2,000 words (40%) ILOs 2-4 (Individual)
Documenting the workflow, technical and studio processes, along with reflecting critically on group-working and relationships between production areas.
When assessment does not go to plan
If more than one student fails then a new group could be constituted by unit-leader, as not all technical roles need to be filled. If this is not possible, an individual production project could be carried out in a single production area (e.g. Immersive audio), involving collaboration with performers, etc., from outside the programme, which the report would reflect upon. Alternatively, the accompanying report could identify best collaborative practice in a professional production team, reflect on relationships with other roles and between studio workflows, in order to fully address ILOs 2-4.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. THTRM0014).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
