Home After War 360° Short Film
• 3-star rating
• Quest, Link
• Documentary, Free, Short Films
• Comfortable, Roomscale, Stationary
Home After War tells an important human story of an Iraqi family who survived the war only to face tragedy after returning home. You begins in the forecourt of Ahmaied Hamad Khalaf's home in Fallujah as his animated depiction stands before you, describing how the Islamic State booby trapped many buildings with improvised explosive devices. You are ushered into the house by onscreen arrows, which you can progressively explore as the story unfolds. The tour also includes two 360 degree videos which help set the scene.
The location then moves on to a roof where this father describes the events culminating in a family death and recounts the ways in which he's had to come to terms with his loss. It is here that the experience utilizes an unexpected effect that might surprise some viewers, but it is one that is not graphic or disturbing in nature beyond the tragic events that are being described.
The rooftop scene includes an effect that may surprise some viewers.
Virtual Reality can be an important tool to transport us to places that we would not otherwise expect us to visit, and can put us in the position of strangers and help us empathize with their struggles. In this case the results are a mixed bag. The story is told well but could be done so just as successfully with a flatscreen video. In fact, a flatscreen video might be better as the experience suffers from poor graphics that distract from the tragic account. The basic photogrammetry and 3D modelling includes many errors that produce an unflattering depiction of the family's house, and the animation of the father telling the story is poor in resolution and often looks out of place from a lighting perspective. Also the tour of the house doesn't feel relevant and is not even mentioned in the story underway.
Home After War suggests that virtual reality can be an extremely effective tool in reporting events in far-flung places, but problems matching narrative structure with visuals coupled with poor graphics prevent this experience from being much better.
Example of photogrammetry and graphic resolution issues.
✅ Important personal first-person storytelling.
❌ Basic photogrammetry detracts from the story.
❌ Narrative structure doesn't match well with visuals.
• YouTube: Trailer
• Languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Mandarin, Polish
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