Babak Zand Goodarzi & Dom Dowbekin, Inner Selfie
360° video with spacial audio soundtrack 04.05 minutes
Conceived and Directed by Babak Zand Goodarzi & Dom Dowbekin
Producer: Ashley Cowan
Editor: Conan Roberts
VFX Supervisor: Andy Overton
Assistant Editor: Yiorgos Tsivranidis
Sound Recordist: Justin Smith
Audio Mix: Rich Evans
Sound Design & Music Composition: Henry Bennett
Special thanks to His Holiness Tnezin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama, Alexander Norman, Keith Abel, Ralph Weir, and all at the Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion at Oxford University.
A Stateless Studios & VR City Production shot on location at the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, India and Rhodes House at Oxford University, UK.
“The key to a happier more successful world is the growth of compassion. We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in an ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities.”
Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama
Inner Selfie is a 360° video / VR installation that conjures an extraordinary, intimate encounter with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet and Nobel Laureate for Peace. In a magical, dream-like experience, the viewer drifts from the present moment into a liminal space where His Holiness himself bestows positive guidance upon them, venerating the value of smiling and beseeching friendship and togetherness face- to-face. This digital apparition frames his message in a fresh and contemporary way, seeking to attract new minds to inspire.
Admirers of virtual technology’s ability to manifest astonishing, transformative experiences, Babak Zand Goodarzi and Dominic Dowbekin began to investigate how this rapidly developing medium may be beneficially engaged in encouraging qualities like empathy, compassion and altruism across large swathes of society. While searching for subjects to develop into such works, fate—or perhaps karma— led to several meetings with Tenzin Gyatso, the current and 14th Dalai Lama: first at the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, India and later at Rhodes House in Oxford, UK.
Support from production partners, VR City, and from the Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion at Oxford University enabled the directors / artists to film His Holiness in 360° 4k video. Postproduction was conducted at VR City's studios in Shoreditch, engaging expert VFX artists and editors to enliven the surroundings. Sound design by composer Henry Bennett, fusing bells, chimes and chants from near and far, enriches the atmosphere further.
The hope is that this work helps participants to forget, if only for a few moments, their gripes, worries or pains. That this virtual experience elicits a meditative and calm state for them in the real world, both within and without, that extends beyond the duration of the piece. The hope is for a message of goodwill to inspire and to encourage smiles, friendship and happiness.
“Our mission at the Centre is to advance individuals’ and society’s understanding of compassion and related values. We are very excited about INNER SELFIE’S potential to contribute to this mission and to demonstrate the indispensability of compassion to happiness among communities that traditional approaches struggle to reach. We would like to thank all involved in creating and supporting this extraordinary initiative.”
Alexander Norman, Director of Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion
Inner Selfie premiered in an immersive dome at Sheffield DocFest and has since been licensed to Hulu and Oculus.
