Assent

an immersive VR documentary

In 1973 my father witnessed the execution of a group of prisoners captured by the military regime in Chile, the Army that he was part of.

Assent puts the user in my father’s footsteps as we head to the place where that happened.

Assent is an immersive documentary developed in the Unity game engine for the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset.

When the military took control of Chile in the coup of September 1973, it was the culmination of Cold War tensions, international political influence and internal conflict. For Army personnel, it was an event that marked their lives.

In the immediate aftermath of the coup a ‘Caravan of Death’ roamed the country conducting executions of military detainees. This was a mechanism to install terror into the community and a way to demonstrate the force of the central authorities to military staff outside the capital, and, in making them complicit in the actions of the junta, to ensure their loyalty. Thirty years later, the repercussions of those events still play out daily – in courts, in politics, and in the homes of Chilean people.

This autobiographical immersive documentary puts the user in the footsteps of my father, who in 1973 was a 21-year-old army officer stationed in the north of Chile, on the day when the Caravan of Death came to his regiment. Assent invites the user to witness that day through my father’s eyes, and mine.

Sundance New Frontier

22 January – 1 February 2015

Park City, Utah, USA

IDFA DocLab 2014

20 – 29 November 2014

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Sheffield Doc/Fest 2014

7 – 12 June, 2014
Sheffield, UK

Montreal International Documentary Festival

12 – 23 November 2014

Montreal, Canada

Currents New Media Festival

13 – 29 June, 2014
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Vector Game+Art Festival

19 – 23 February, 2014
Toronto, Canada

White Night Melbourne

22 February, 2014
Melbourne, Australia

RMIT Creative Festival

23 November, 2013
Melbourne, Australia

Credits

Director, Writer and Producer: Oscar Raby

Associate Producer: Katy Morrison

Sound design and Music: Oscar Raby

Additional scripting: Chris Barker

Additional 3D modelling: Chris Caughey

Produced at the Centre for Animation & Interactive Media
School of Media and Communication, RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
2013

Travel assistance provided by

Australia_Council_master_horiz_col_logo

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.