In a box of reality

New track

Think of the last time you watched a scary movie and couldn’t sleep at night. Now imagine if you were actually present in the movie and you had to escape from the situation.

Oh yes, filmmaking is becoming more and more advanced and the next big thing is virtual reality films. Making the country proud are Eddie Avil and Ashley Rodrigues who are creating the first virtual reality horror film called ‘Crackle’.

Promising to deliver one ‘hell’ of a movie experience, the team is working together for the final production of the film.

The cast includes Aman Sait, Archita Agarwal, Rohan Joshi, Shivam Arora and Snigdhadeep Chatterjee. Eddie chats with Anila Kurian and shares the process of this particular kind of filmmaking and how the team hopes to make virtual reality a success in India.


What makes the film ‘Crackle’ special?

It’s the country’s first virtual reality horror short film where you feel like you are actually in the film. It’s produced and made completely in India and is a movie experience one has never seen before.


How long is the process?

The shooting didn’t take a long time but stitching the shots and making sure that every angle is captured will take a long time. We are still in production and hopefully, in a couple of weeks, we will have our final product.


What was the hardest part?

Everything! Shooting this was interesting but the post-production is what makes everything so different. We have to make sure that everything falls into place correctly and we are learning as we go.


Any fun moments?

Oh, gosh! None. We were so busy trying to figure everything out that we didn’t have time to think of anything else. Maybe we should have relaxed a little and taken in a few light moments.


Do you think this concept will pick up in the country?

As it is the first of its kind, it will take some time to get this process rolling. This means, we will have to speak to a few theatres who will have the virtual reality accessibility. I am in the process of talking to a few distributors and let’s hope it works out.


How else do you plan to take this concept forward?

We’re going to be presenting this at various film festivals in India and abroad. We want to spread awareness on this concept as we believe it’s the next best way of watching a film.


Where did you get the inspiration from?

To be honest, it’s not a new concept. Steven Spielberg is making a virtual reality film.  ‘Avatar 2’ is also said to have VR cuts, and even ‘Baahubali 2’ had a VR version released. To top it all, A R Rahman is making a VR film called ‘LeMusk’. So inspiration is everywhere. It’s just that we are first to have the entire film made in India.


So, what next?

Since we are busy with the production right now, our hands are full. We hope to make more films and stay creative.