is possible to introduce the notion of interactivity in films. In this sense the
film Time Code splits the screen into four and gives the spectator the chance
to choose the point of view that he would like to watch. However, the
freedom of the audience is not absolute, as it is not possible to choose the
angle and move freely within the screen, and also because the soundtrack
emphasizes the relevance of a particular screen over the other three. Time
Code is just an incipient ‘sample’ of what interactive films can offer to us.
Indeed, the ultimate goal of interactive cinema will be a fully
immersive film, which will blur the distinction between reality and the virtual
world of the film, isolating the user from any signals outside the system. In
other words, when ‘the experiences are cognitively similar ‘a belief in the
reality of’ or the clear distinction between ‘real’ and ‘unreal’ becomes not
just blurred but irrelevant’ (Irwin, 2002: 183). Before the advent of digital
and virtual technologies, the closest we were to a stage of total immersion
was the 70mm formats. There were also further attempts to produce a more
immersive cinema with systems such as Cinerama, bicolour 3D glasses and
Omnimax, but they never achieved the sense of reality, interactivity and
confusion obtained by Virtual Reality (Westlake, 2005). However, in the last
year, the release of a new digital visual technology called ‘Real D’ has
significantly improved the capability of producing a notably credible feeling
of immersion in the spectators, as demonstrated in Beowulf 3D (Zemeckis,
2007). ‘Real D’ creates a 3-Dimensional cinematographic image through an
electro-optical modulator, a unique projector that circularly polarizes the
frames and is also perceived by the spectators with 3-D polarized glasses. The
resultant effect satisfactorily makes the audiences believe that they are
involved in the image projected on the screen, although it is not yet a truly
personal experience.
The characteristics that a film (or other technological product) should
have to be lived as a personal experience and reach a believable level of
reality can be summarized in the combination and balance of cognition and
sensation, form and content. Then, of course, the personality of each
individual and the enjoyment found in the film are crucial in the impact of
every film on the spectator. In technical terms, virtual/interactive films are
- 63 -