First Scripted Immersive Short Film: Submerged

Debuting today and billed as "the first scripted short film for Apple Vision Pro," Submerged is an impressive – and definitely very immersive – experience.

The hot, cramped, foreboding environment of Submerged's submarine in high resolution stereoscopic 3D, combined with ominous underwater metallic creaks delivered in Spatial Audio and the quickly ratcheting tension of the film's storyline make for an extremely compelling watch.

Impressively – for me – the film has some very tense moments without being uncomfortable or too claustrophobic, which I'm sure was a very difficult line to tread in production.

Watch on Vision Pro in Apple TV via this link: Submerged.

Behind The Scenes

In a "Making Of" featurette, also published today on Apple TV and on YouTube, Writer and Director Edward Berger tells us that Apple Immersive video is "a wonderful new medium that just expands the horizon of storytelling (...) it's going to change the future of filmmaking."

We also get to see some of the equipment used in the film's production – see below.

In the "Making Of" featurette, Berger continues:

"I think it's the perfect story to tell for the Apple Vision Pro, because we get to look around, we get to hear in every direction."

"We had to change our ways of thinking about filmmaking. You have to integrate the sound into the set. You have to integrate the lights into the set, because you can't put up any lights anywhere."

Guy Bennett, Key Grip on the film, elaborates:

“The camera format has given us new challenges. With 180-degree vision we’re having to think more abut how we move a camera in a confined space without using track dolly or anything that can be seen by the camera. And I’ve worked a lot with the art department to create places within the set that we can hide a lot more of the moving mechanisms for moving a camera than we would on a normal shoot.”

The detail visible in the set throughout the film is very impressive. I genuinely thought they'd filmed the whole thing in an actual submarine, which – in hindsight – would have been virtually impossible, of course.

Production Designer Nicholas Palmer explains:

"Everything's in focus. Every detail is apparent. We've had to (...) up the level. (...) We've pushed ourselves to use as many real materials wherever we can. Different surfaces – gloss, satin – to build up interest."

All of the details really do come across well on Vision Pro.

We also get to see some of the camera hardware used in the film's production. I'll leave some screenshots below for further sleuthing by anyone who's curious. While it looks like some parts or logos have been covered with gaffer tape, it's still interesting to see not just the stereoscopic cameras themselves, but also the fact they're filming in confined spaces, and underwater!

What did you think of Submerged? Let me know your thoughts over on Mastodon.

– David.