Submerged is everything that’s impressive and isolated about the Vision Pro

I don’t like subs. The thought of being trapped, several hundred feet underwater, in a tight, creaking death trap? No thank you. I already knew that going into screening Submergedthe first scripted short film shot with Apple Immersive Video for the Vision Pro. Now that I’ve seen it, I’m three times sure.

The film is written and directed by Academy Award winner Edward Berger. Submerged Its events take place inside a World War II submarine that is under attack. It follows the crew as they attempt to escape from a sinking submarine. And yet, in 2024, I was sitting comfortably on the couch in Apple’s demo space in Manhattan. There weren’t any other theatergoers because I would have strapped the stage to my face. It was a bit strange. At least until the movie starts. Then I too was inside a World War II submarine.

Watching an immersive movie inside the Vision Pro is strange. On the one hand, it’s hard to forget you’re wearing a headset. But, unlike a normal film, I have a kind of ghostly power within the narrative. The action can happen with the main characters, but I’m not obligated to watch them. You can instead focus on the add-ons in the background. I can – and do – sometimes choose to turn my head to stare at the rivets in the submarine’s metal walls or the beads of condensation in the torpedo tube (also, cheekily, at a cockroach slithering across the floor). Sometimes, I would turn around to see if this was it Submerged The world was 360 degrees like real. Spoiler: No. This fantasy world extends 180 degrees, and once you reach the border, it fades to black.

The experience feels like a cross between playing a video game and watching Sleep no morean immersive version of Macbeth The audience wanders through a creepy hotel while the play unfolds around them. Scenes move more slowly, as if you’re invited to take a quick look at your surroundings. At the same time, you’re not completely free to explore. There’s still a story Berger is trying to tell – you’re along for the ride.

It’s all a natural part of adapting traditional filmmaking to a more immersive 180-degree field of view. “That frame is very large and you need to fill that frame with things that are happening, things that could be of interest to the audience,” Berger says. “Every extra piece counts in this, every piece of equipment, every piece of explosive pipe or item in the frame counts. You can’t really cheat.”

This wide field of view comes with its own obstacles. Microphones and lighting should be integrated into the scene. Berger says he had to storyboard everything, make a short animated film based on that, and then watch it in Vision Pro to get a sense of how the camera moved. Berger also wore headphones when he started filming to see what the footage would look like.

The result is impressive. As the water rushed into this imaginary submarine, I could taste the faint memory of salt water on my tongue. As the characters walked through the submarine’s narrow corridors, they felt claustrophobic. During the scene in which the sailors insert a torpedo into the launch tube, I instinctively reached out with my hand. For a split second, I thought they were loading him straight into my chest.

“My main agenda is to make you feel what the main character feels, and make you go through what they do,” Berger says. On that front, Submerged Incredibly successful. When you remember you’re wearing a headset, the rest of the world comes running back to you.

When you watch the film, you become acutely aware that no one else is experiencing this with you. There is no one else to gasp at the horrific moments. There’s no one to look at, as if to say, “Hey, did you see that too?” If you were to use this SharePlay, you would only see the ghostly figure of a friend who isn’t actually there. Then you’ll miss out on the whole immersive aspect. When you think about it this way, Submerged It is something you have to experience on your own.

Owning (or borrowing) a Vision Pro is also the only way to see Submerged. This is inherently lonely. The only people I’ve really been able to chat with about this experience are Apple employees and Berger himself. Now that the movie is out, I’ll have to wait for the two people I know in real life with Vision Pro to make time in their schedule to watch it. When I try to explain this to my wife, they are unimpressed.

Ostensibly, Apple wants these immersive movies to be a selling point for the Vision Pro. Come spend $3,500 and see for yourself what magic it is. There is a logic to this. Submerged It is a truly technologically impressive demonstration of high-quality immersive content. It’s also a difficult experience to share. I can’t say that with a straight face this This is a killer reason why anyone would buy one of these, especially since this movie was only 17 minutes long. That’s long enough for things to feel fresh and fresh. I’m not sure how well the immersive aspect holds up in a two-hour movie.

“Not every movie will be made with these headsets. It’s not necessary. That would be a waste of resources and a waste of time,” Berger admits. Instead, he sees the Vision Pro as another tool in the belt. “Not every movie is supposed to be suitable for every media. But if I have the right story, I think I’m excited to tell this and move the medium forward.

This is the kind of quagmire that all mixed reality technology is stuck in He can Be magical. When you try it, you can see why some people are inspired and motivated. Then, when you inevitably take the headphones off, it’s hard to explain to anyone why the world inside the headphones is better than the world outside them. “Pushing the limits” is not a compelling reason at all. monitoring Submerged He’s like this too. Despite the artistry and technology that went into making this film, I never needed Vision Pro to imagine how terrifying a sinking submarine would be. It is not necessary to immerse yourself in a good story.