Exploring the Impact of 360º Movie Cuts in Users' Attention

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) has become more relevant since the first devices for personal use became available on the market. New content has emerged for this new medium with different purposes such as education, traning, entertainment, etc. However, the production workflow of cinematic VR content is still in an experimental phase. The main reason is that there is controversy between content creators on how to tell a story effectively. Unlike traditional filmmaking, which has been in development for more than 100 years, movie editing in VR has brought new challenges to be addressed. Now viewers have partial control of the camera and can watch every degree of the 360º that surrounds them, with the possibility of losing important aspects of the scene that are key to understand the narrative of the movie. Directors can decide how to edit the film by combining the different shots. Nevertheless, depending on the scene before and after the cut, viewers' behavior may be influenced. To address this issue, we analyze users' behavior through cuts in a professional movie, where the narrative plays an important role, and derive new insights that could potentially influence VR content creation, informing content creators about the impact of different cuts in viewers' behavior.