'Creative Control' looks at the near future of personal VR
Whether it's the Siri-like companion in Spike Jonze's "Her," a beautiful A.I. in Alex Garland's "Ex Machina" or the ability to instantly rewind and project memories in the "Black Mirror" episode of TV's "The Entire History of You," on nearly every screen there seems to be someone's vision of the not-so-distant future — and usually a warning about how the purportedly convenient technologies are damaging our realities.
The latest entry is the bold indie "Creative Control" (out Friday in limited release and expanding on March 18), about an ad exec who gets lost in the possibilities of Augmenta — an augmented reality system in a pair of glasses.
Director Ben Dickinson, who co-wrote and stars, didn't have the VFX budget of some of his contemporaries, but what he did have was time to really hone in on an idea, and a few friends in the tech world to help — including Vimeo co-creator Jake Lodwick.
With Augmenta, the world becomes a screen, but video messages still skip in transmission and texts and emails still pop up incessantly in front of your face.
Big, theatrical swiping movements in the air might look great in something like "Minority Report," for instance, but it's impractical.
The usual approach in science fiction is to expand something to its most exciting, but ours was to make it feel really realistic and familiar.