Cinema-Television: Virtual Cinema to be Taught at USC
The USC School of Cinema -Television has entered into an agreement with HyperBole Studios to begin teaching VirtualCinema classes in spring of 2001, it was announced by Elizabeth Daley, dean of the School.
VirtualCinema®, an interactive software engine, interface design authoring tool and approach to interactive filmmaking, is a robust system designed for creating interactive movies and entertainment, corporate applications and e-learning. VirtualCinema allows for deep interactivity but also speaks the language of film—cuts, close-ups, medium shots—so a traditional director or a writer can understand and develop an interactive project easily.
Jerry Isenberg, executive director of electronic media programs at Cinema-Television, declared, “VirtualCinema represents the long awaited breakthrough in bringing interactive entertainment and traditional cinematic narrative storytelling to the point of convergence. At last, Cinema students will be afforded the opportunity to merge their cinematic training with interactive storytelling.”
The classes will serve as a pilot program for VirtualCinema, which had previously been taught in workshops in the US and all over Europe. “I want to get VirtualCinema in the hands of as many of the next generation of filmmakers as possible,” said Greg Roach, HyperBole CEO and the creator of VirtualCinema. “I want them to have the advantages I didnt when I first started making interactive movies—to be able to create in a new medium, and not have to learn a new vocabulary to do so.”
HyperBole Studios, a creator of world-class interactive entertainment, was founded in 1990 by Greg Roach, one of the country’s leading interactive designers. Its interactive film and game engine, VirtualCinema®, and award-winning products have consistently broken new ground in the interactive entertainment market. The company recently began licensing its VirtualCinema technology, and its first original series, Dog, Buddha, Elvis, is featured in the atomfilms.com fall lineup.
