![\"Dana](\"https:\/\/newsroom.home.ona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/09\/Dana_VR-1.gif\")
<\/strong><\/p>\nBy Dana Branham and Phi Do<\/strong><\/p>\n Six hours of training and two weeks of production. That\u2019s all it took for\u00a0<\/b>Veda Shastri and a team of other New York University graduate students to\u00a0<\/b>direct and produce an eight–<\/b>and–<\/b>a–<\/b>half minute virtual reality documentary.<\/p>\n Shastri and her project \u2014\u00a0\u201cReturn to Chernobyl\u201d<\/a>\u00a0for PBS\u2019 Frontline \u2014 are evidence\u00a0that it doesn\u2019t take hours of training to complete a virtual reality project and that VR isn\u2019t only for the most prestigious newsrooms.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more accessible than people think. It feels confusing, it\u2019s new and people don\u2019t know how to approach it, but we self-taught ourselves,\u201d Shastri said. \u201cIt takes a lot of time, but with anything, once you get started, you\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Options abound for producing VR projects \u2014 cameras from hugely varying price ranges, GoPro rigs for six or 16 cameras, and all types of software for stitching and rendering video.<\/p>\n Still, for many newsrooms, there\u2019s a fear factor when it comes to committing to VR \u2014 especially when it comes to cost.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m trying to even convince a newsroom to even get into this 360 game, they immediately think, \u2018I don\u2019t have the resources,\u2019\u201d said\u00a0<\/b>Robert Hernandez, a digital journalism professor at the\u00a0USC Annenberg\u00a0School for\u00a0Communication and Journalism. \u201cBut here\u2019s why I’m advocating for it now:<\/b>\u00a0It\u2019s not that expensive to start.\u201d<\/p>\n Hernandez, <\/b>who updated his VR journalism tip sheet<\/a> this week for\u00a0<\/b>journalists who want to start experimenting with immersive storytelling,<\/b> pointed to relatively inexpensive 360 degree video cameras as a way to enter the VR scene \u2014\u00a0both the Ricoh Theta and the Samsung Gear 360 cameras run about $350. Hernandez, who has studied emerging technologies for at least a decade, said now is the time for newsrooms to dive into virtual reality.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you start, you help shape what this is,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cWe have an opportunity as storytellers to really own this space.\u201d<\/p>\n VR journalism tip sheet | Robert Hernandez (@webjournalist)<\/a> by ONA Newsroom<\/a> on Scribd<\/p>\n Nick LaMartina, a game audio professional and VR specialist, suggested that\u00a0<\/b>the final clincher in convincing a newsroom to invest in the technology lies in allowing journalists to experience it for themselves first. He recommends newsrooms create a VR vertical slice so they can have a clear understanding of what VR can do for their content and how it it can affect audience engagement and retention.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause until somebody actually puts it on their heads, puts the earphones in and really feels that difference and what it means, it\u2019s next to impossible to convince somebody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Sound, which can make or break video content, can be an even tougher sell. As a game designer with years of experience, LaMartina said\u00a0sound always needs a strong advocate. Like visual content, he added,\u00a0the best persuasion is to show, not tell.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about strong self–<\/b>advocacy but also [about] taking the time to put the work into making smaller advances that people can take bite-sized pieces of and really see what a difference it can truly make,\u201d LaMartina said.<\/p>\n Virtual reality also means more immersive storytelling. James Pallot, co-founder of the Emblematic Group, said because VR requires viewers to believe that they\u2019re somewhere else, it heightens their empathetic response. It can also give viewers a greater spatial understanding of how and where news unfolds, Pallot said.<\/p>\n Still, not every story needs to be told with virtual reality.<\/p>\n \u201cNo. 1 is: Can the story be told in any other medium? And if the answer is no, then we do it,\u201d Pallot said.\u00a0\u201cAnd the answer is often yes.\u00a0It\u2019s only when we feel that there\u2019s a way that it can be illuminated that only VR can illuminate, that we decide to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Pallot said stories that do best with virtual reality are features\u00a0with longevity that need the interactivity and spatial awareness that virtual reality can provide.<\/p>\n \u201cA story that has legs, that\u2019ll give you the time and the breathing room to think,\u201d he said. \u201cTry it on a big story. Try it on a story that fits the medium. Try it on a story that has legs.\u201d<\/p>\n For a newsroom that wants to be cutting edge, Hernandez said,<\/b> virtual reality is going to be big, and the time to get started is now.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now [virtual reality is] not mainstream,\u00a0and that means we have two options,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cWe can wait until it becomes mainstream and then jump on that train, or we can jump on the train, learn and fail when nobody\u2019s looking, and when the moment hits that it becomes mainstream, we\u2019re ahead of the curve before everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n