700 years after the death of Dante Alighieri, to mark ‘Dantedì‘, it was possible to cross the threshold of the Inferno and experience some significant moments of one of the most translated literary works in the world with ‘La Divina Commedia VR: l’Inferno, un viaggio immersivo’ (The Divine Comedy VR: the Inferno, an immersive journey), a new ETT production, a short film in 3D virtual reality lasting about 7 minutes, narrated by Francesco Pannofino.
ETT S.p.a. in association with West 46th Films S.r.l. developed this new project with direction and screenplay by Federico Basso. Alessandro Parrello, on the other hand, was responsible for the direction and screenplay of the live shoots. The strong point of the production is the integration of computer graphics and film footage in Virtual Reality, whose potential is enhanced by the characters and settings of the story.
For the Dante VR project, ETT was entirely in charge of the production in Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) Animation, working long and hard on the conception, design and rendering of the 3D animated models, starting from a storyboard closely linked to the verses and images of Dante’s Divine Comedy. West 46th Films, on the other hand, was responsible for ensuring the strict technical-artistic coherence of the live shoots on location and in the studio with the poetic universe outlined in the CG component.
Giovanni Verreschi, CEO of ETT, tells us: “Live shooting, video post-production, computer graphics and 3D animation make up the range of technologies deployed by ETT with a view to making the work accessible in innovative and highly immersive ways. This multidisciplinary approach made it possible to interpret and decipher the world imagined by the Poet’. “The Divine Comedy VR: Inferno, an immersive journey” is intended for the VR platform, festival and audiovisual market in general, museum and educational institutions, film and television channels. The spectator has the chance to recognise Dante lost in the ‘dark forest’ at the edge of Hell, and then literally step into his shoes and become the Poet. In addition to the visual dimension, the project pays special attention to sound design, capable of tracing the contours of an all-round experience. A factor that is consistent with Dante’s inventions. Dante, in fact, in the Divine Comedy dwells several times on the voices, noises, and acoustic suggestions that permeate the Otherworld. The original music by Marco Morini was conceived along the same lines. During the creative and realisation phases, the main focus was on the storytelling strategies, on selecting the verses from Inferno that were most suitable for recreating the atmosphere of Dante’s journey. Given the importance of the text, Francesco Pannofino was chosen as narrator, on one hand ensuring its artistic depth, and on the other hand raising the level of recognition of the work with a view to its dissemination to the general public.
Discover also Dante’s Journey: let Dante, the ultimate ‘traveller’, accompany you on a serious game itinerary through the seven Unesco sites in Tuscany.