Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
May 10, 2013 10:18 PM   Subscribe

 
I keep reading about the Oculus Rift, and I'm excited as hell for it, but I've not seen anyone asking the important question: Is there going to be Oculus Rift-enabled porn, and how far away is it?
posted by DecemberBoy at 10:22 PM on May 10, 2013


That trailer is very pretty, and appears to treat Newton's first law as an uncomfortable and arbitrary restriction, to be cast aside as soon as possible. Where's all that delta-v coming from for these things to be falling into the void or crashing into each other?
posted by figurant at 10:27 PM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


(The script was scientifically accurate, but to say more would delve into spoiler territory.)
posted by incessant at 10:35 PM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Then I'm intrigued. On your way out, let marketing know they're all fired.
posted by figurant at 10:42 PM on May 10, 2013


Space sharks.
posted by Artw at 10:43 PM on May 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


I saw the trailer for Gravity (after io9's pre-public-release hype) and am both intrigued and terrified.

I read that MMU flights are very difficult and space maneuvering in general is tough, which terrified me even more when seeing Sandra Bullock floating out there... Alone...

Oculus Rift looks like it has some interesting potential, but I read that the first versions have a very low horizontal FOV (I saw a hack that some guy did to add LED ambilights so you at least had some peripheral color to sort of match the general scene. Not as good as full vision, but better than mere blackness)... I think the guillotine and this spacewalk are two awesome experiments that are great demos for the unit. I hope it can catch on and it's not a pain in the ass to work with/wear, etc...

Remember that fan made demo for the "Nintendo Revolution"? It would be interesting to see it finally happen.
posted by symbioid at 10:56 PM on May 10, 2013


but I read that the first versions have a very low horizontal FOV (I saw a hack that some guy did to add LED ambilights so you at least had some peripheral color to sort of match the general scene. Not as good as full vision, but better than mere blackness)

Isn't the whole point of the Oculus Rift that it has a much greater horizontal FOV than previous VR headsets?
posted by DecemberBoy at 10:58 PM on May 10, 2013


OR edition of Kerbal Space Program, please.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:08 PM on May 10, 2013


I read that Gravity is in real time, and the first 20 or so minutes are a single long shot. Looks like Cuaron is using much of the same techniques from Children of Men.
posted by zardoz at 11:20 PM on May 10, 2013


I appreciate the Spiritualized tag.
posted by shinyshiny at 11:22 PM on May 10, 2013 [4 favorites]


THIS IS NOT FOR ME I AM AFRAID OF INFINITE HEIGHTS (≧σ≦)
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:47 PM on May 10, 2013


Somehow my brain can tolerate sound in space in Star Trek or Star Wars but hearing all that crashing noise in something like Gravity just seems jarring and wrong. The visuals look so realistic and having the sound be so wrong just ruins it for me.
posted by octothorpe at 1:52 AM on May 11, 2013 [3 favorites]


Somehow my brain can tolerate sound in space in Star Trek or Star Wars but hearing all that crashing noise in something like Gravity just seems jarring and wrong.

Yeah, but there's no way a mass release film is going to be bound by physics.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:22 AM on May 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


Kubrick had the balls not to add ludicrous whooshing sounds to space but almost no one since.
posted by octothorpe at 3:37 AM on May 11, 2013 [5 favorites]


Kubrick had the balls not to add ludicrous whooshing sounds to space but almost no one since.

Firefly. One of the first reasons I came to loe that show, actually.

That Gravity trailer does nothing to make me want to see it. I knew nothing of the movie before now, and as I was watching it, I kept saying to myself "This looks potentially interesting. Please, please, pleeeeease don't let it have a 'then things go horribly wrong' moment". And then I was immediately disappointed when it turned into the Poseidon Adventure in Low Earth Orbit.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:55 AM on May 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


George Clooney as an astronaut doesn't seem right.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:02 AM on May 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


"Canadarm!!! Nooo!!"
-things exclaimed while watching the Gravity trailer
posted by hip_plumber at 5:09 AM on May 11, 2013 [10 favorites]


All I want in life is no more Sandra Bullock films to be made.
posted by orme at 5:23 AM on May 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


Clooney has been in space before.
posted by Slothrup at 6:09 AM on May 11, 2013


Y'all know Cuaron made Children of Men, right?

I raised my eyebrow at Sandra Bullock, watched the trailer, and on the basis of that alone, thought that wow maybe she will redeem herself for x number of bad movies.

Then again, I was this excited for Prometheus and suddenly I am depressed. What do you call that, when you are oppressed by a combined excitement and dread that it won't meet your expectations?
posted by angrycat at 6:13 AM on May 11, 2013


The "space sounds" in the trailer don't bother me, as it's probably a good idea for marketing, but I hope the movie handles this better (INT spacestation: noisy, EXT spacestation: silent, or if POV in spacesuit: breathing, heartbeat, radio static, etc).
posted by wobh at 6:25 AM on May 11, 2013


Gravity looks gorgeous, and I'm excited about Cuarón doing another sci-fi (ish) movie, but I also have some doubts. It spent years in development hell, first at Universal, then at WB. There's been a constant revolving door for lead actors, with Angelina Jolie, Robert Downey Jr., Marion Cotillard, Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, and Natalie Portman being attached at different times.

It's also a post conversion to 3D, which generally sucks, and more serious movies in 3D in general have a very spotty track record.

Also, I don't for the life of me see how you make the script work. The beginning, which is what you see in this teaser, is a doozie, and really gripping, but once you have your lone astronaut floating in space with no way to get home, where do you go from there? There's no good, realistic way to get her back home that doesn't get really unrealistic really fast, and you risk it turning into Cast Away or 127 hours IN SPACE really quickly if you just have that one character floating.

None of those options seem like they'd be all that interesting or good, not to mention box office successes.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:37 AM on May 11, 2013


To be fair, I had no idea how you could make 127 Hours on Earth work, and it did.
posted by Artw at 6:48 AM on May 11, 2013


Meanwhilte, reality joins in.

(Live coverage of the emergency iSS spacewalk to fix that ammonia leak)
posted by Devonian at 6:56 AM on May 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


Please please please, let her be saved by a teenagers experimental rocket named Fireball XL5.
posted by sammyo at 7:57 AM on May 11, 2013 [3 favorites]


angrycat: "...What do you call that, when you are oppressed by a combined excitement and dread that it won't meet your expectations?"

MatrixSequelitis?
posted by symbioid at 8:01 AM on May 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


wobh: "The "space sounds" in the trailer don't bother me, as it's probably a good idea for marketing, but I hope the movie handles this better (INT spacestation: noisy, EXT spacestation: silent, or if POV in spacesuit: breathing, heartbeat, radio static, etc)."

I could see that. The shift from breathing and interior noise vs dead silence as a disruption in the viewers' senses could actually be pretty effective in creating certain senses of disruption and discomfort.
posted by symbioid at 8:03 AM on May 11, 2013


As a film and NASA nerd who favors sci fi set in the present/ near future (and who also likes Bullock!) I would want to like Gravity.

But I'd also heard of the production troubles, and was prepared to be underwhelmed. I've seen too many real images and stories, been around a few real astronauts, it's a tall order to reproduce all that faithfully and realistically.

I also am curious if the OR is really all that. (Yep, tough customer.)
posted by NorthernLite at 8:39 AM on May 11, 2013


Wait, does Clooney get dead in the trailer? Does the shuttle blow up? I thought the natural script direction would be that he somehow gets in the shuttle and goes after her. Which, not as exciting as Children of Men, maybe but people give me something to hope for.
posted by angrycat at 8:59 AM on May 11, 2013




Artw: "To be fair, I had no idea how you could make 127 Hours on Earth work, and it did"

Just barely, I'd say. I liked the movie, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:54 AM on May 11, 2013


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