Beyond Reality In virtual reality (VR), a new language of sound design is emerging. As directors grapple to find solutions to some of the inherent problems of telling a story in VRxe2x80x94for instance, the audienceu0027s ability to control the field of viewxe2x80x94sound designers are playing a new role in subconsciously guiding the audienceu0027s attention and consequently, are framing the narrative. However, developing a new language of sound design requires time for creative experimentation, and in direct opposition to this, a typical VR workflow often features compressed project timelines, software difficulties, and budgetary constraints. Turning to VR sound research offers little guidance to sound designers, where decades of research has focused on high fidelity and realistic sound representation in the name of presence and uninterrupted immersion McRoberts, 2018, largely ignoring the potential contribution of cinematic sound design practices that use creative sound to guide an audienceu0027s emotion. Angela McArthur, Rebecca Stewart, and Mark Sandler go as far as to argue that unrealistic and creative sound design may be crucial for an audienceu0027s emotional engagement in virtual reality McArthur et al., 2017.   To make a contribution towards the new language of sound for VR, and with reference to the literature, this practiceled research explores cinematic sound practices and principles within 360film through the production of a 5minute 360film entitled Afraid of the Dark. The research is supported by a contextual survey including unpublished interviews with the sound designers of three 360films that had the budget and time to experiment with cinematic sound practices  namely, xe2x80x9cUnder the Canopyxe2x80x9d with sound design by Joel Douek, xe2x80x9cMy Africaxe2x80x9d with sound design by Roland Heap, and Emmy awardwinning xe2x80x9cCollisionsxe2x80x9d with sound design by Oscarnominated Tom Myers from Skywalker Sound. Additional insights are included from an unpublished interview with an experienced team of 360film sound designers from xe2x80x9cCutting Edgexe2x80x9d in Brisbane Australia xe2x80x93 Mike Lange, Michael Thomas and Heath Plumb.   The findings detail the benefits of thinking about sound from the beginning of preproduction, the practical considerations of onset sound recording, and differing approaches to realistic representation and creative design for documentary in the sound studio. Additionally, the research contributes a lowbudget workflow for creating spatial sound for 360film as well as a template for an ambisonic location sound report.

Analysis of Intended Viewing Area vs Estimated Saliency on Narrative Plot Structures in VR Film In cinematic virtual reality film one of the primary challenges from a storytelling perceptive is that of leading the attention of the viewers to ensure that the narrative is understood as desired. Methods from traditional cinema have been applied to varying levels of success. This paper explores the use of a saliency convolutional neural network model and measures itxe2x80x99s results against the intending viewing area as denoted by the creators and the ground truth as to where the viewers actually looked. This information could then be used to further increase the effectiveness of a directorxe2x80x99s ability to focus attention in cinematic VR.