Go behind the scenes of a legendary VR film studio on Meta Quest
A new VR series offers an exclusive look at Felix & Paul Studios' decade-long work in VR filmmaking.
Founded by Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël, the Canadian studio celebrated its tenth anniversary a few months ago.
Over the past decade, the Emmy Award-winning production house has released a number of iconic VR films. These include the VR feature film Miyubi, which takes you inside the life of an American family from the perspective of a toy robot; a tour of the White House with Michelle and Barack Obama in The People's House; and the unique space documentary Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, which was filmed inside and outside the International Space Station.
Felix & Paul Studios has also worked with Bill Murray, Brie Larson, Eminem, Jeff Goldblum, LeBron James, and many other celebrities.
Filmed with Canon's VR lens
The VR documentary Inside Felix & Paul Studios consists of eight episodes, each seven to eight minutes long. Six of them have already been released. I watched them on Meta Quest.
At the end of this article you will find links to the documentary, which is available in a 180 degree stereoscopic format on either Meta Quest TV or YouTube.
The documentary was shot using the Canon EOS R5 C camera and Canon's VR lens, the RF 5.2mm F2.8L Dual Fisheye lens. This combination shoots 180-degree stereoscopic video in 8K at 60 frames per second, and the result is stunning when viewed in a Quest headset.
The studio's next big goal is to accompany the next journey to the moon
The documentary highlights various aspects of VR film production, including camera technology, sound design, and post-production of 360-degree footage.
The first episode looks at the origins and history of the studio and the motivation of its founders. The founders see the sense of presence as the unique quality of VR movies compared to other formats, which is the feeling of being physically present in a place. Every scene and every film produced by the studio is designed around this aspect.
The second episode revolves around the launch of Artemis I, which the studio livestreamed into VR headsets. It shows the tremendous effort the team put into capturing this historic event.
With Space Explorers, the studio followed astronauts on Earth and on the ISS. The next step is to immortalize the upcoming lunar missions with VR. The idea is that one day VR cameras will be present when humans land on the moon again.
Watch Inside Felix & Paul Studios with Meta Quest
Episode 3 takes a look at each of the cameras that the studio's engineer designed specifically for shooting in VR. You'll see how the cameras have improved from generation to generation, and with them, the image quality. Special attention is given to the 360-degree camera, which was used to film in open space and had to withstand enormous temperature changes.
In two further episodes, the studio demonstrates the important role of sound design for VR films and the complexity of post-production of 360-degree footage. Each step is explained and visualized.
My conclusion: Inside Felix & Paul Studios is a fascinating VR documentary, even if you haven't seen any of the production company's VR films. Like the films themselves, the documentary touches on universal human themes and shows pioneers of a new art form and film technology at work.
You can watch Inside Felix & Paul Studios on Meta Quest TV or with the VR app Youtube VR on Youtube (Playlist). For the best picture quality, I recommend cache the individual episodes via Meta Quest TV instead of streaming them.
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