Claustrophobia and barely contained panic were my two dominant emotions as I experienced Apple’s first-ever immersive narrative short film on the Vision Pro mixed reality headset.
The appropriate title SubmergedArriving today on Vision Pro headsets around the world, it tells the gripping 17-minute story of a World War II submarine tasked with tracking ships in enemy waters.
If you’re even remotely a World War II history buff or movie fan, you’ve heard or seen stories like this before, but I doubt you’ve seen it this way.
Written and directed by award-winning director Edward Berger, the film tells a taut story about a submarine crew under siege. It’s notable not necessarily because the story is new or nuanced, but because it uses immersive video techniques to put you right in the middle of the action.
Watching the film, I was able to look around the cramped cabin – an expertly constructed set that, thanks to the Vision Pro’s high-resolution screens and limited space, used all metals to make the recreation remarkably realistic.
The story starts slowly to perhaps introduce you to the main character, crew member James Dyson (expertly played by Jordan Barton), his shipmates and the mundanity of their existence some 400 feet below the sea’s surface.
One thing I noticed was how Berger switched back and forth between using the 360-degree viewing capabilities of a VR headset (all shot with Apple’s own camera) like the Vision Pro, and pulling the focus in tight to to direct your gaze. The close-ups of Barton were so tight that I could make out the pores in his face.
I often find the experience of watching a movie in Vision Pro soothing, almost to the point of drowsiness. As the first few minutes of the short progressed, I found my attention waning – that is, until the ship was hit by something and shook wildly. I was so shocked that I almost jumped off the couch I was sitting on.
From that point on, the film seemed to make an impression on me and its characters. I enjoyed Berger’s varied proposals of the camera. At one point a twenty-foot torpedo was loaded into my chest – at least from my point of view. In another, the main character stared warily straight into my eyes.
When one of the torpedo tubes burst and flames and sparks formed overhead, all hell broke loose. Within seconds, geysers of water shot into my face and the main character’s face.
As the water rushed in and rose around us – yes, I soon felt a part of this – my unease grew. It was clear that the water was right under my nose. I’m a bit claustrophobic in real life, so I quickly found myself repeating a mantra of “no no no no” in my head. To achieve some of this effect, they shot the film in a giant custom-built tank and in open water, where they slowly submerged some parts of the set.
There’s virtually no exposition, so I never quite understood how (spoiler alert) the enemy found them, attacked them, and ultimately destroyed their submarine. Miraculously, all crew members survived. Since this is a compelling Apple movie, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised.
Apple is still primarily interested in delivering relatively short immersive experiences. There’s a new NBA All-Star weekend movie in the queue that, while only four minutes long, really puts you in the middle of the three-day event. I don’t even follow basketball, but found it entertaining (the basketball in my face was a nice touch).
Apple also has more Adventure and Elevated episodes planned, including one for Maine. There will be more concert experiences to come, such as one from The Weekend and one from RAE
I’ve enjoyed most of my immersive experiences and if you have a Vision Pro, this is one of the coolest ways to use your mixed reality headset. Are they and this entertaining and somewhat terrifying film reason enough to spend $3,500 on a Vision Pro? I leave that up to you.
Naturally, I had many questions about the making of this compelling short film, so I turned to director Edward Berger, who also directed the Oscar-winning film. All quiet on the Western Front, for a deeper look at how he created Submerged and the choices he made to bring it to Vision Pro. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
A conversation with the director
I watched the behind the scenes video briefly and what struck me is that it looked like you were wearing the Vision Pro headset during the making of the film. So I guess I was curious if that was designed so that you would have a feed and know exactly how the scene was going to play out for people who were wearing headphones themselves.
Berger: During our recording experience, we designed the pipeline so that we could view the recording through the Vision Pro and experience life as the actors did.
I started to change my habit a bit during production, because you learn that your brain reconnects very quickly to the Apple Vision Pro. It learns the tools, it learns the images, it learns the techniques, very quickly what it feels like, what you can use. And so halfway through the shoot I alternated between just looking at the actors on my monitor, (we had) two monitors. One was just the field division and the other was the whole 180 degrees, kind of what was all over the frame.
So I just looked at that one around – sometimes it felt a little bit more direct to me and I could imagine the effect that I would have in the Apple Vision Pro because I had learned it in the last three weeks of using this tool.
Were there any technical surprises as you prepared for this or even while you were doing it?
Absolute. I mean, not so much surprises because we tested it extensively, but certain things that we knew, we’re going to have to push the boundaries here in terms of movement, camera movement. How much can you shake with it? What kind of dolly movements, crane movements can you make? Can you perform a three-axis movement, or is it better to just move on one axis? Just do push-ins or trackbacks or things like that.
So all these things that you have to test to know what it’s going to feel like when you put the glasses on, but also, you know, very quickly it became clear to us, okay, where are we going to hide the equipment? ? You know, where are we going to put the lights? Where are we going to place the microphones? We soon realize: okay, we’ll have to integrate everything into the set.
The set looked beautiful by the way. It looked realistic. Have you ever shot a VR movie before?
No. First experience, first stereoscopic experience. I would never even put on VR glasses. I mean, other than in a museum, maybe for a few minutes, when there’s a long line behind a view, so it was a wonderful way to get to know the technology that goes into it and explore ways to tell a story in a another way to tell.
Do you now have a Vision Pro?
Absolutely, and I use it a lot. It’s a great way to watch movies.
How long did the entire shoot take?
I think we shot for ten days. Maybe tested for a week and then shot for 10 days.
It sounds like there might have been more planning involved than a traditional film, because you had to hide equipment, for example.
Yes, it took a lot of planning. It took a while, but you know, we were on a tight timeline too. So in a way it was like we had to work around the clock to make this film so that it could now premiere for you. I mean, we shot the movie in April and there’s a long post-production process involved. Yes, a lot of planning, but also a lot of 24-hour work.
Were you able to show it to Tim Cook?
I mean, I know he watched it. I wasn’t in the room when he looked at it.
Given the amount of preparation and the way you had to approach things, was there room for improvisation?
No. In general, I’m not a big fan of improvisation. I like films where I can tell that the filmmaker has put a lot of thought into their design and making. To respond on the day itself, I don’t call it improvisation where I said: okay, let’s make it better. We planned this shot, but actually from here it would be much better if the actors did this, let’s respond to that. But I like it when films are well thought out and precise, so I’m not the right person to ask that question.
I’m sure there is someone else out there, an improv filmmaker who will put the Apple Vision Pro to good use.
While shooting the film, I noticed that sometimes I could look around and see a lot of things, and other times my view was focused, narrowed in a way. So I was just curious how you decided to make that choice, where sometimes we were fully experiencing it and sometimes we were like, the main character was actually looking at us and that’s kind of what you saw. If you look at the edges, they were a little dark.
It is. I mean, it’s a way like in a traditional film, I would say it’s the use of a close-up. If you say, okay, I really want it to have an emotional impact on the viewer, make sure they’re really close to our character so they can experience what they’re experiencing. And so you direct the eyes, the gaze that way, but mostly, I mean, this device, the great thing is that the audience can design their own experience.
It’s almost like theater in a way. You have very wide images, not necessarily your field of view, but left, right, up and down, there’s a lot outside the frame that you can see and hear, and then to use that whole frame, the whole 180 degrees to filling it with sound or other action like a bursting pipe or steam coming from somewhere was super interesting for us, and that’s why you need more time to discover these things. You can leave the shots hanging so you, Lance, can look around, you know, so we can give you the time and space to do that.