The Dream Collector

Recently, I watched the VR movie The Dream Collector.

The Art:

The Dream Collector follows the story of a man who collects dreams abandoned in a dump off the highway. Everyday, he goes out to collect the abandoned dreams of others, fixes them, then sends them to a mysterious place using a conveyor belt. The movie is essentially a montage, going through his life day by day, season by season. 

As we approach the end of the film, the man comes home after a long day of collecting dreams, only to turn back, proud of his work, and see a plethora of dreams falling from the sky. Discouraged, he sits at the darkness of his desk for a little before his puppy (with an insanely large nose) is like “hey look do your job, be happy, keep working” by dumping over his basket and dragging the contents over to him (as puppies do). With his spirits up again, the man works on the piece, and we finally discover what all this work as been for…

My critique, as is my critique with most VR work, is that I was extremely distracted the whole time. As seasons changed, and the environment changed, I kept wanting to look around, not really caring that the man was showering or watering his plants–the little parts of a story that give you insight on a character. Not only that, but when the scenes changed, the shot didn’t start on where the person was, or was going to walk in from, and I’d miss parts of the beginning of the story because I was trying to find where the story was happening. Perhaps this is different in the VR environment because of  3D sound, but at this point I don’t know if that’s the answer.  

The Artist:

The piece was created by Pinta Studios, and recently premiered at the Future of Storytelling in the US. Established in 2016, Pinta Studios is a Chinese studio that was created by a group of people that wanted to create “story that touched … hearts and create a film and television work that touched everyone” According to their website, “The studio name comes from Columbus’s discovery of the New World fleet’s search pinship, the La Pinta. It is said that the observer of the Pinta first discovered the American continent in the middle of the night. We hope to carry this meaning, take risks, and explore the ocean of content creation.”

Currently, they have two works out, The Dream Catcher and Shennong:Taste of Illusion, and are in the process of creating two more.