Our Story
Total Cinema was founded in the early days of the modern virtual reality boom by storytellers and film production professionals with a passion for what seminal film theorist André Bazin called total cinema, the medium’s unique relationship with reality. We use the untapped potential of spatial and interactive audio and video, volumetric performance capture, photogrammetry, live theater, and the newest XR technologies (virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality) to redefine the creative boundaries of cinematic storytelling.
Our work has been honored with the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Use of Video in Journalism, as well as the Webby Award for online content, the Shorty Award for social media, the Digiday Award for media and marketing, and our collaborations have been showcased in international film festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, and the Venice Biennale.
In addition to our commercial practice, we develop independent, ambitious, and original fiction and non-fiction experiences and work to foster a vibrant community of the best XR creators and professionals to share and collaborate on projects.
CREATIVE Directors + Co-FOUNDERS
Adrian Vásquez de Velasco (photo credit Sage Einarsen).
Adrian Vásquez de Velasco is a creative director and co-founder of Total Cinema. An award-winning virtual reality and 360° video director and producer, feature documentary filmmaker, and artist specializing in the intersection of interactive cinematic XR technologies (virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality), gaming, and live performance, Adrian is also a contributor to professional education in the field and a collaborative manager of diverse talent.
Principal areas of interest: narrative design, education technology, interactive art, artificial intelligence, ecology, international relations, global priorities research, emergence, deep history.
Resume available here.
CV available here.
LinkedIn available here.
Craig Gilbert.
Craig Gilbert is a writer, director, and producer specializing in live-action virtual reality content, and a co-founder of Total Cinema.
Our Mission
We believe in creating powerful XR video, journalism, films, documentaries, branded content and cinematic experiences.
Which stories we tell and why we tell them are always the paramount considerations when we begin a project because XR is an inherently powerful medium. Immersive, interactive technologies allow for deeper connections between audiences and content - viewers can be empowered to explore, make choices, observe more intimately, empathize more deeply, and feel rewarded when new discoveries are acknowledged within the world of the story.
XR audiences have the potential to be the smartest audiences in any medium; therefore, we must tell smarter stories.
“In short, cinema has not yet been invented.”
André Bazin, ‘The Myth of Total Cinema’ from What is Cinema? (1967).