Multi-screen panaromaic movie format, Barco Escape.
Touching Heaven, Australia's first film made for multi-screen panaromaic movie format, Barco Escape, is set to premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California.
Written and directed by Simon Lee, produced by Carolyn Starkey and starring Matt Doran (The Matrix, Star Wars – Attack of the Clones), Touching Heaven is 'a contemporary Icarus story' exploring themes of entrapment, escape and loss.
The five and a half minute short film contrasts sequences that literally trap the audience between scenes of a gridlocked cityscape with panoramic aerial sequences that occupy all three screens.
Shooting took place January in and around Sydney and also with a wingsuit cinematography team in the skies above Torquay, Victoria.
Lee said the intersection of technology and storytelling was rich with creative possibilities.
“It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to work with this innovative format and I’m looking forward to exploring the feature-length potential of the story we have begun to tell.”
Lee’s debut feature film Dream Racer also edited by Touching Heaven editor Adrian Barac, was released in 2013.
It was awarded at festivals in the US and Europe and sold to international networks including Discovery World and Fox.
Since Barco Escape’s debut in fall 2014 with the hit movie The Maze Runner, Barco has been working with studios and filmmakers to create projects that offer audiences a premium viewing experience.
The format also gained recognition at Cinequest 2015 when it headlined the film festival’s Future of Film showcase.
Touching Heaven is the first of a series of projects produced under the banner of Franklyn Street Films, exploring the storytelling possibilities of emerging technologies.
FSF was started mid 2015 as a sister company to independent creative agency The Hallway.
At its helm is ex-Verve Films Executive Producer Carolyn Starkey.
Starkey said Franklyn Street Films exists to create emotionally engaging content across all screen platforms.
“Touching Heaven’s script is immensely compelling," she said.
"Combine that with spectacular imagery, viewed in the immersive Barco format, and the audience is set for one extraordinary ride”.
Touching Heaven credits:
Written and directed by Simon Lee, produced by Carolyn Starkey, Starring Matt Doran, DP – Nino Tamburri , Editor
– Adrian Barac, sound by Uncanny Valley. Wingsuit cinematography and stunts by Experience Series.