The Moment, the film "shot" from the spectator's brain

A FILM decided by the mind of the viewer, which changes plot and rhythm based on what is recorded in the brain of the beholder. This is the idea behind The Moment by Richard Ramchurn , a 27-minute feature film that literally transforms the audience into a director. It is no longer enough to enter the scenes and live them as supporting actors, more and more realistically, as in the 4D projection, or to make decisions that can influence the fate of the protagonists as in interactive films. The last in the series, Detroit; Become Human, exclusively for PlayStation 4, allows you to take on the role of three androids and influence the trend of the story. Now, we are witnessing a leap in quality: it is our celebratory waves that dictate the rules. All this thanks to the Brian Computer Interface technology and to the EEG earphones.

Ramchurn is a graduate of the University of Nottingham, England, and fascinated by this latest frontier of the interactive film. His latest work explores a dark future dominated by brain-computer interfaces. We are witnessing the screening - strictly limited, from six to eight spectators, while one person is in charge of the plot - and clapper, he turns. The audience wears a NeuroSky MindWave, which tracks brain electrical activity and measures the level of attention. Data is sent wirelessly to Ramburn's custom software, which makes changes to the movie based on input received: edit scenes, background music, dialogs, and more. "The film changes based on how you feel," reads MIT Technology Review. Thus, according to the director, the possible versions can be around 101 billion. The work was long and complex: the British artist had to shoot three times the number of images normally needed for a traditional film, and six times the audio required for a film of the same duration.

The official trailer of the work that will debut at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival in June (GB) has just been released a few days ago. Traditional film seems to be relegated to cinemas from arthouse and in the future the big screen will increasingly be a mix of entertainment and games. Where the role of the director becomes increasingly blurred. The last stage of this path of emancipation from viewer to author is precisely The Moment