Immersive filmmaking, while being the most tech-forward visual medium, functions in a very similar way to how artists of the 15th and 16th centuries attempted to capture multi-dimensional stories within one large frame. From the frescos of Masaccio depicting religious life to Bruegel capturing large scale scenes of village life and revelry to Raphael’s The School of Athens with its throng of Greek philosophers in various discussions, these artists (as well as multitudes more) were creating, in a way, proto film experiences using the tools they had available to them in a medium that made sense at the time.

With modern filmmaking, utilizing montage and various focal lengths, we can now inhabit these large stories as broken apart elements and intercut scenes, but we have traded this idea of all-encompassing world-building and passive omniscience for individualism and guided story perspective.

With Desert Palms and immersive technology, we are essentially aiming to put the fragments back together and present the story as these old masters once did - omniscient and unbiased - and incidentally the way we as humans experience life. In the real world, narratives play out in front of us whether we are looking at those specific actions or not, and with our film the viewer can choose what moments to engage with and what commands their gaze.