Virtual Reality Filming

Here is how this works in practice. We deliver virtual reality filming as a complete production service, capturing immersive content built for headset viewing where the viewer is placed inside an Icelandic environment rather than looking at it. Our crews run high-resolution stereoscopic and spherical VR camera kits, plan stitch lines and viewer eyelines for a comfortable immersive experience, and manage the central challenge of VR capture — keeping crew, support gear and cables out of a frame that records in each direction. We plan spatial and ambisonic audio so the soundscape matches the immersive image.

Here is the short of it. We handle stitching, stabilisation and delivery for VR headsets and immersive sites. Iceland's conditions drive the planning: weather protection for unattended rigs in wind and spray, warmed batteries, condensation control on many lenses, and shooting in the seasonal light window that suits the scene. We staff from the skilled Reykjavík crew base and bring in extra VR camera kits and immersive-post pros from the UK and mainland Europe for larger projects.

Here is the breakdown. Iceland is outstanding source material for virtual reality. A subarctic island on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it gives environments that genuinely surround a viewer — standing in the rift valley at Þingvellir National Park where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart, beneath the ice of Vatnajökull, among the lava of Dimmuborgir at Mývatn, or under the aurora borealis in winter. These are places where VR's immersive format adds something a flat frame cannot. The country's draw as a tourism and cultural destination makes immersive content a natural fit.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. The fast-changing subarctic weather is the central scheduling factor. Filming in covered areas such as Þingvellir is set up with the Environment Agency of the country, with crews keeping rigs and footfall off fragile moss and lava. Eligible crew and gear spend can count toward the country's production reimbursement of 25 per cent, rising to 35 per cent for qualifying projects, administered by Film in the country.