Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
CONVERGENCE-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH INTO NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus)
This study examines how virtual reality (VR) cinema transforms spectatorship, embodiment, and narrative engagement through a phenomenological analysis of Darkening (Ond & rcaron;ej Moravec, 2022), a VR film exhibited at the Czech National Film Museum (NaFilm). VR cinema places the audience inside the film's world, fostering narrative embodiment through interactive and spatial storytelling. In Darkening, viewers engage in actions such as reaching for objects, responding to auditory prompts, and navigating a virtual environment, creating a fluid relationship between observation and participation. The museum setting enhances this experience by introducing a paradox of asynchronous co-presence, where the solitary nature of VR engagement contrasts with the implied presence of other viewers. This study introduces a three-stage framework consisting of experiential chronology, embodied interactivity, and cognitive reflexivity to analyze how VR cinema reshapes meaning-making and viewer agency. This research combines film phenomenology and narrative theory to demonstrate how VR cinema expands the boundaries of storytelling, interactivity, and presence, offering a profoundly affective and participatory cinematic experience in museum contexts.