Investigating a cinematic virtual reality narrative framework for screenwriting

Abstract

Over the last decade cinematic virtual reality (CVR) has been progressively developing as a meaningful vehicle for impactful and immersive narratives. Recent studies of CVR concepts and components have laid the ground for a CVR narrative theoretical framework that might assist researchers and practitioners to understand this type of virtual reality (VR) experience. While existing studies have isolated key features of CVR, a range of projects from different fields of work or in different stages of production have utilized a range of different screenwriting processes and strategies to address the affordances of this medium. In this article we seek to systematize the key findings of earlier studies into a narrative framework for CVR and to analyse how this framework is reflected in existent models and templates for writing a screenplay for CVR experiences. Furthermore, and based on this narrative framework, we also aim to contribute an exploratory approach to CVR screenwriting by proposing a variative and original screenwriting template. This template addresses the main limitations of the existent screenwriting templates and formats that we analyse in this study while also summoning the main advantages.