Viva Ouro Preto VR: PROMUS participates in innovative video-experience
The Viva Ouro Preto VR, an initiative of the Project Creative Bossa – Art of All People, a partnership between the National Foundation of Arts (Funarte) and the UFRJ, is on the air since the end of August. The project is the result of applied research and the joint performance of two Professional Post-Graduation Programs of UFRJ, the Music Program (PROMUS) of the School of Music; and the Creative Media Program (PPGMC) of the School of Communication, with the participation of the Laboratory of Computational Methods in Engineering (LAMCE) of COPPE, also of the university.
Exterior (top) and interior of the São Francisco de Assis Church, one of the most celebrated creations of Antônio Francisco Lisboa, the Aleijadinho.
The work is an innovative video-experience that unites musical, visual and documentary performance in cinematic virtual reality (with 360º vision) to value the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the city of Minas Gerais. It combines documentary, visual effects and spatialized sound (ambisonic, a format that reproduces beyond the horizontal plane, covering the sound sources above and below the listener, so that the human ear has an immersive experience) in an experience designed to stimulate the valorization of the historical and cultural heritage. Ouro Preto is the first city contemplated, but the idea is that innovative works with these same multi-sensorial characteristics, joining musical and audiovisual performances, can be created for other heritage cities contemplated in the Creative Bossa Project (see the complete list in the project website: www.bossacriativa.art.br).
Eduardo Martino, responsible for still photographs, explains that the video was initially conceived to be projected inside a dome (dome shaped tent) in a public square in Ouro Preto. With the isolation, however, it was necessary to adapt the project. “We spent a few days touring the beautiful city, making all the records from this concept, but we flew back to Rio de Janeiro directly into the quarantine,” says Eduardo. “In a certain way, we were lucky to have made the registers, because from then on, everything changed. The product was rethought several times and, finally, we reached this final format, which is based on the original ideas, but brings other interesting innovations that emerged along this process, with the dedicated team and collaborating at a distance,” he reports.
Kátia Maciel, coordinator of the Master in Creative Media at UFRJ, is the scriptwriter and executive producer of the video. “Creating the script and following the whole production of the video Viva Ouro Preto VR was very stimulating!”, she says. “I had to write thinking about Cinematic VR, still and 2D photography, ambisonic audio… a complete immersive experience. We didn’t want to produce another ‘virtual tour’. We tried to create a real experience, able to move the senses, the emotions, generate new memories, engagement and curiosity. And, above all, to contribute to the valorization of the incredible treasure that is the historical and cultural heritage of Ouro Preto”, he says.
Kátia emphasizes the importance of the partnership between UFRJ’s graduate professional programs for this initiative: “We unite expertise in the areas of Creative Media/Communication, Music and Computational Methods. People who understand melodies with people who work with neural networks; communicators with programmers and musicians. Imagine the melting pot of ideas and possibilities!”, he celebrates.
Creative Bossa Project
A partnership between the National Arts Foundation – Funarte and UFRJ – curated by its Music School – the Creative Bossa brings together presentations and workshops of various artistic languages and forms of creative economy. The focus is the democratization of culture, as well as the diversity and diffusion of all arts, in an inclusive way. The activities are composed of pocket shows, performances and training videos, exhibited at www.bossacriativa.art.br, with the participation of artists from all over Brazil. The agenda includes the launching of a public notice for new artistic and cultural proposals; and a public call for the presentation of master’s works in the arts area. The initiative is part of the Funarte de Toda Gente Program. More information on the project’s website.
Watch the project’s video here