➤ XR影人講座 II
石丸健二｜《耳朵裡的四重樂隊》製片
湯瑪斯韋勒普｜《獄中鳥》導演
維多利亞保希斯｜《致我親愛的孩子》導演
➤ 作品簡介
《耳朵裡的四重樂隊》
以2D動畫耐人尋味著稱的山村浩二導演，新作《耳朵裡的四重樂隊》帶著既幽暗卻童心未泯的純真感，開啟人們私密的童年記憶。在山村浩二的VR宇宙中，主角是一位孤獨的男孩，每天都在泥地裡挖寶，他把發現的東西收集於餅乾罐。就像許多小孩曾有「看不見的朋友」，男孩耳朵裡也住著四位音樂家和兩隻金星花籃蝦，它們隨著男孩的眼淚而演奏、跳舞。
《獄中鳥》
VR動畫《獄中鳥》從敘事流暢的〈首部曲：自由幻夢〉延伸出兩部續集，完整了導演韋勒普的VR系列劇情片。故事發生於陰森的監獄，兇殘的典獄長不滿人高馬大的囚犯成天以作畫、冥想度過平靜歲月，因此處心積慮毀壞畫作，並施行嚴酷的禁令。殊不知，渴望自由的「眼睛」竟能脫離備受禁錮的肉身與牢房，強行探索鐵窗外的絕美風景。藉由詩意與黑暗基調，帶觀眾穿梭於壓迫與自由之間。
《致我親愛的孩子》
本作品改編自男主角Pin Yathay的享譽國際的同名回憶錄，記敘他在1975至1977年於柬埔寨的恐怖遭遇：紅色高棉大屠殺時期，Pin Yathay一家子被強制趕離首都金邊，在赤柬幹部暴虐地驅使下，大人小孩都被迫四處遷移，在那地獄般的處境中，Pin Yathay興起了逃跑的念頭⋯⋯。
在互動VR《致我親愛的孩子》這部技術與題材皆以高規格處理的虛擬實境中，觀眾套入Pin Yathay的視角，扮演一名種族滅絕倖存者和痛心的父親，憶起遺棄6歲兒子逃亡的撕心裂肺，觀眾將與主角一起踏上贖罪和治癒的旅程。前期的沉浸體驗猶如在一座迷宮中前進，快步移動於陰森空間裡的暈眩感，伴隨著幽靈般的回憶閃現，不僅帶來生理上的絕望，同時也逼人熱淚。最後你一定能明白，本作的用意是要觀眾通過VR體驗，將受困的Pin Yathay從精神牢籠中解放，並使這段關於親子、家庭、國族、歷史的傷痛，皆得慰藉。
➤ XR Creator’s Talk II
Kenji ISHIMARU
Producer of My Inner Ear Quartet
Thomas VILLEPOUX
Director of Jailbirds
Victoria BOUSIS
Director of Stay Alive, My Son Chapter 1 & 2
➤ Title Intro
My Inner Ear Quartet
What lives in a lonely boy’s ear? And why a boy’s ear…?
A lonely boy dug in the dirt every day and collected what he found in a cookie tin.
In the boy’s notebook, he recorded the lonely voices of the objects he collected. Inside the boy’s ears live four musicians and two Venus’ Flower Basket Shrimps, who play and dance in response to his tears.
He shook a cookie tin filled with found objects in return. In this way, the boy grew up.
The boy grew up and became a salesman selling hearing aids and no longer picked up lonely voices or shed tears. One day, fascinated by a handmade bird brooch saw on the TV news that was found in a Japanese American internment camp, he set out on a journey to collect lonely voices again. What would he find there eventually?
Jailbirds
Jailbirds (the full trilogy) is a fantastic tale of dark poetry, about freedom and captivity. Felix, an inmate, is a gentle giant that, despite the abuse from the prison’s vicious Chief-Warden, shows a never-ending happiness. Felix’s serenity lies in a magical secret, which is his strength but also his Achille’s heel.
Stay Alive, My Son Chapter 1 & 2
Stay Alive, My Son, (“SAMS”) is an epically immersive, cinematic, and interactive experience that places the Participant in the shoes of a Cambodian genocide survivor and father to experience a transformative and inspirational true story about family love, separation, and personal redemption.
