First Person Sunglasses Revolutionize Film

Online, February 1, 2012 (Newswire.com) - In 1947 MGM released a film noir based on a Raymond Chandler story entitled "Lady in the Lake" and promoted it heavily as the first film to take place entirely in first-person and the most revolutionary style of film since the introduction of talkies. It was expected to be a hit and an early New York Times review stated that the director and star Robert Montgomery "has hit upon a manner of using the camera that will most likely lead to more arresting pictorial effects in the future."



It didn't and despite the fact that since the premiere video games have grown from a couple of nerds playing "Pong" on modified radar screens to a $7 billion a year industry, where the top video game "Call of Duty" takes place entirely in first person and made $1 billion faster than the most successful movie of all time "Avatar", Hollywood has been slow to catch up.



"A couple POV scenes rarely longer than 10 minutes, a 2 hour long acid trip and 8 episodes of a sexist fratboy fantasy. That's the summary of the past 60 years of first person films in American cinema." says filmmaker Sean Adair. "I don't know why, but I thought I could do better".



And so after 4 years working as a visual effect artist on films such as "Green Hornet", "Priest", "Arthur", Immortals" and many other Hollywood projects, Sean finished a script entitled "Day In the Life of Doe", hired SAG actors with dozens of credits to their name, and bought a pair of spy glasses.

"Truly amazing technology. They look like a pair of Oakley knockoffs but they have a small lens in the bridge of the nose and when you load in microSD cards and press record they shoot HD video using available light and capture sound through a built in microphone."

The film is currently available for viewing online (http://blip.tv/the-artwork-of-sean-adair/day-in-the-life-of-doe-5914262). But "Day In The Life of Doe" isn't the only film being released that features these innovative glasses.

This week the horror anthology "V/C/R" premiered at Sundance and was quickly picked up by Magnolia pictures for a VOD and theatrical release. One of the key segments has a character wearing spy glasses in order to capture Paranormal events.



"I actually met Ti West, one of the directors involved with the film, at the LA FilmFest this past year where he was promoting his film "Innkeepers" remembers Sean Adair. "Afterwards, I shook his hand and pitched my film idea using the sunglasses and he seemed polite but uninterested. Fast forward 6 months and I read that a large chunk of the latest film he is involved with "V/C/R" has a scene using the same kind of glasses I first told him about"



Ti West so far has not been reached for comment, and while some who have heard the story say that Mr. Adair has a valid lawsuit on his hands or at least the makings of an angry email he's not interested.



"I'm not mad at all. The technology is out there, I don't have any exclusive right to it's use, and I feel happy to have inspired Mr. West and the creators of this years Sundance smash even if it was only subconsciously."



Still, the first person scene is only a small portion of the film "V/C/R" and Sean and many fans online are still waiting for a studio to release a feature length film in first-person.



"Of course I'd like for "Day In The Life of Doe" to be that first first-person film released in 60 years by a major studio or get a chance to take what I've learned and work with a studio to make a film inspired by both "Lady in the Lake" and these monstrously successful game franchises that will appeal to both the fans of those games, as well as allow other audience members who haven't played these sorts of games to experience a fresh way of telling a story."

Whether he'll get that chance to or how long it will be before another filmmaker does, only time will tell.