TORONTO -- A Canadian company is bringing the experience of space exploration straight to the homes of millions of people around the world.
, which specializes in emersive entertainment experiences, has chronicled the lives of astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) for two years. Next week will be the first time ever that a 360-degree camera is used to document the space walk in its entirety at the ISS.
鈥淲e felt that this was something that we had to accomplish, and everything we鈥檝e done in the studio was to ramp up to this moment and bring audiences into space. It鈥檚 a dream long in the making,鈥� said Felix Lajeunesse, co-founder of Felix & Paul Studios told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
The series is an immersive project titled 鈥淪pace Explorers: The ISS Experience鈥� and features mobile 360-degree cameras that follow the daily lives of astronauts. The show follows astronauts on a number of different experiences, including a space walk, which is set to film on March 5.
The 360-degree camera will be rigged to a robotic arm attached to the space station and will function as a crane to document NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguichi鈥檚 space walk. The entire walk will last six and a half hours.
The camera was unpacked during a mission by Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jaques and assembled in November 2020.
In order to create a camera to withstand the harsh environments of space, the company needed to make several considerations such as camera calibration, thermal management and space radiation.
鈥淵ou have to conceive things differently because you鈥檙e in a micro gravity environment so heat dissipation will be different in space when compared to Earth,鈥� said Lajeunesse.
The project will consist of a four-part series that has been two years in the making and has garnered more than 200 hours of footage.
The scope of the complexity of doing a project in space is what makes it so difficult.
Lajeunesse said in order to achieve this in the very inhospitable environment that is the space vacuum, the Montreal studio had to overcome a variety of technical challenges while the film crew is on Earth and everything is happening in space remotely.
鈥淪ometimes we experience loss of signal and for a while you鈥檙e blind and all you can do is hope for the best. It takes weeks to even see the content that you鈥檝e shot,鈥� said Lajeunesse.
The company remains in direct communication with the astronauts during filming. Astronauts are sent camera positions and lighting directions, all while under the supervision of NASA. At times, Lajeunesse said the astronauts pitch original ideas to contribute to the film鈥檚 overall production.
鈥淭he astronauts are the protagonists in the story, but they also act as the de facto film crew,鈥� said Lajeunesse.
All of the footage sent between Earth and space is reviewed by NASA and can take between six to eight weeks to download. At times, producers on Earth will communicate feedback to the astronauts.
鈥淵ou need to rethink your craft and rethink the way you communicate. You need to start from ground zero in order to be fully operational in an environment like space,鈥� said Lajeunesse.
The main mission for the company is to create immersive storytelling experiences through virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality technology. The company wants its audience to feel like they鈥檙e crew members aboard the space station.
The content will be made available to subscribers through various partnerships with the company.
Viewers can also watch online using virtual reality glasses, 360-degree mobile and widescreen video.
鈥淲e are also going to launch across all fully immersive Canadian planetariums, and the content will be part of a large scale travelling exhibition which will launch in July 2021,鈥� said Lajeunesse.
The company鈥檚 film ambitions don鈥檛 end after next week鈥檚 production. Lajeunesse hopes to go beyond the ISS and eventually put a camera on the moon and eventually Mars.
鈥淭he next time that astronauts land on the moon, it鈥檚 not going to be something that you watch on television, it鈥檚 going to be something that you live in real time,鈥� said Lajeunesse.
The project in its entirety is expected to launch in August to December 2021.
