Unlocking the Mystery of ‘The Key’ (Q&A)
A conversation with creator Celine Tricart
Walking up to the exhibition space for The Key at the Tribeca Film Festival’s VR Arcade, participants are struck by a visually stunning sight: the exterior walls of a large wooden box have been decorated by hundreds of intricate, dangling skeleton keys, individually pinned to the walls. But what’s inside the box remains a mystery.
The Key is a blend of immersive theatre and virtual reality, supported by Oculus VR for Good, and is the first interactive VR experience created by Celine Tricart (The Sun Ladies). The participant in The Key is lead through four different environments and must face challenges and difficult decisions at each stage, each centered around the experience of loss. Only by passing through these stages will the mystery of the key be revealed.
We spoke to creator Celine Tricart over email to find out more.
No Proscenium (NP): Can you tell us about yourself and your background in making immersive work?
Celine Tricart (CT): As long as I can remember, no one could stop me from reading.
It started as a child, hiding under a blanket at night with a flashlight. My parents tried desperately to open me up to the “real” world. But for me, the stories were as real as the rest, and through them, I lived a thousand extraordinary adventures.
For people like me, VR is a gamechanger. It’s the tool every storyteller and world-builder dreamed about. With The Key, I want to take you on a physical and emotional journey. VR makes it possible.
This is my first interactive experience after many years doing cinematic 360 films including The Sun Ladies which premiered at Sundance in 2018. At first, I was blown away by the creative freedom, the endless choices and infinite possibilities offered by game engine technology. The main challenge for me was to find a way to craft interactivity so that it doesn’t get in the way of emotion.
As an avid gamer myself, I know that’s something the video game industry has mastered with titles such as Last of Us, Journey, or Detroit, which not only blew my mind by the quality of their game mechanics but also brought tears to my eyes numerous times. But in VR, we haven’t quite achieved this balance yet. How do we get past the gimmicks, and create something just as powerful as lived memories or lucid dreams?
NP: Without giving too much away, what is The Key about?
CT: The Key is an interactive experience mixing immersive theatre and virtual reality. Participants will get to meet Anna, a young woman who has vivid dreams but no recollection of her past. By exploring her dreams, they will be able to find clues about where Anna comes from, and unlock the mystery of the Key.
NP: What role does the audience member play and how do they contribute to the story?
CT: I’ve studied hundreds of interactive VR projects, trying to understand what works and doesn’t work for story-driven experiences. I learned two things that I decided to use in The Key. First, simplicity is key. Instead of using all the buttons on the controllers for tasks or teleporting I decided to craft the environments so that the participant doesn’t have to. In order to interact with objects or characters, touching them is enough. That way, even non-gamers can easily understand the experience mechanics and enjoy them without having technicalities getting in the way.
The second thing I’ve learned is to treat the participants with respect and kindness. I believe VR is a first-person medium. We bring a lot of ourselves in with us: our identity, our thoughts, our emotions. It is important to “ease” the participants into the VR story world with smooth, smart transitions from the real world, to educate them on the “rules” of this new world as early as possible. And most importantly, not to try to squeeze the participants into other people’s bodies and tell them what to think and when. It’s story-living, instead of storytelling.
NP: Who is the ideal participant for this experience?
CT: Somebody who lets herself or himself feel. Let go and enjoy the ride!
NP: What do you hope people take away from this experience?
CT: My hope for this experience is to create a bond between audiences and our characters, one fueled by admiration for their courage and resilience. Somewhere in the 15-minute runtime, the secret is revealed. The participant learns what is the Key, and what it opens. And everything is different. If you want to know the truth, come experience The Key at Tribeca.
The Key runs April 26 — May 4 as part of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Immersive Program. Tickets are sold out.
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