Cybersecurity Conference 2024

For a major cybersecurity conference, Softmachine was commissioned to create a centrepiece for the event.

The production ultimately took an unusual direction for fulldome: rather than relying on animation or fully computer-generated imagery, the film was shot as live action, with a cast of actors performing inside a purpose-built immersive production.

That decision brought a very different set of production considerations to the project.

Directing without a conventional frame

The film was built around continuous, theatre-style long takes rather than conventional coverage.

That meant camera movement, actor blocking, timing and lighting all had to be choreographed as one continuous performance. There was no conventional sequence of close-ups, cutaways and reverse angles to assemble the scene afterwards.

In a dome, the audience surrounds the action, so the staging has to carry more of the visual storytelling.

Softmachine designed the blocking accordingly, using movement through the space and carefully timed interactions between performers to create a clear visual flow. The camera had to move with the action without making the audience work to find it.

Lighting presented a similar problem. Rather than building a composition for one camera-facing direction, the production had to create a lighting environment that remained coherent throughout the 360° image.

Choosing a location for 360°

The location was another production decision that could not be separated from the format.

A space that looks convincing through a conventional camera can feel surprisingly constrained when the audience can see the entire environment. The dimensions of the room, camera paths, performer movement and surrounding architecture all become part of the image.

Softmachine therefore assessed locations according to how they would function as immersive environments, not simply how they looked on camera.

The physical scale of the space became part of the choreography, allowing the performers and camera to move naturally through the environment while maintaining the sense of scale required for the dome.

The result

The finished film brought live-action performance into a full 360° environment, with a cast of actors performing specifically for the immersive format.

For the conference, the result was a centrepiece created for an immersive venue rather than a conventional film adapted for projection.

For Softmachine, the production demonstrates the value of approaching fulldome as a filmmaking medium in its own right. The format influences decisions from casting and blocking through to camera movement, lighting and location selection, and those decisions need to be made together from the beginning.

That is the expertise Softmachine brings to immersive productions: understanding not just how to produce content for a dome, but how the dome should influence the production itself.

Why it matters for you: If you’re considering live-action content for a conference, corporate event or brand experience, we can develop the production around the immersive environment from the outset.