Laduma: “Travel series benefits from VR”
October 16, 2017
Nick Snow @ MIPCOM
Laduma is demonstrating how the launch of travel series Photo Number 6 is benefiting from virtual reality at MIPCOM.
The VR/AR content company worked closely with producers of the hit TV show, which is presented by Alan Fletcher. That partnership has seen Laduma create a series of 360 films based on the series, allowing fans to step inside the TV show and experience it in a new way.
Ben Smith, CEO of Laduma, said: “We are hugely excited to launch our VR films to accompany series one of Photo Number 6. We believe it marks a new way that TV shows can interact with fans and pull them into their worlds. What we have tried to show is that this is not about VR competing with TV, it is about how it can add value to the main event. Our aim was to take people beyond the series and into the heart of those places Alan visited. And by doing that, build a deeper bond between show and audience.”
In every episode of Photo Number 6, host Fletcher seeks out five travel experiences, delving into the heart and soul of the places and people he visits. The challenge is for him to photograph each of those five locations, but then choose just one photograph that sums up the entire experience.
Laduma camera operators accompanied Photo Number 6 producers on their global trek, enabling them to create VR sequences that mirror and compliment the series.
Fletcher, who made his name as Dr Karl Kennedy in the Australian soap-opera Neighbours, said: “Photo Number 6 is not a standard travel programme. We are taking viewers ‘under the surface’, to explore the culture, the politics, the landscape and the humanity of the places we visit. Through five fast paced cinematic segments, we accompany audiences on a quirky, humorous, dramatic and, occasionally, risky ride into some fascinating and exciting destinations. Traditional marketing of television and film products relied upon slick 2D trailers to excite viewer interest. Audiences now are looking for a more immersive experience in line with what their computers and devices can offer.”