A photo journal behind the scenes of Inside: The Childhood of an Artist
17 Sep 2025Inside: The Childhood of An Artist is a multisensory experience in virtual reality, offering audiences a new and different way to engage with biography. In this photo journal, some of the creative and technical team behind the project share their experiences of working in this new medium.
Director Sacha Wares summarises the idea behind the multisensory biography format
Inside: The Childhood of an Artist is a multisensory biography of American artist Judith Scott that offers audiences a whole body experience. Biographies are usually ‘written’ and ‘read’, generally relying on factual information and well-ordered chronology. But there are some aspects of lived experience that cannot easily be communicated this way. Some memories need to be ‘sensed’ or ‘felt’ rather than ‘read’ in order to be fully understood.
In Inside: The Childhood of an Artist we use a range of new technologies to transport us into the world of the biography, allowing more of our senses to be engaged than is usual in traditional film, theatre or in the act of reading. The processes we use to achieve this should hopefully be barely noticed by the audience, but in the background, many novel technologies are being combined to create the experience including: photogrammetry, volumetric and motion capture, virtual reality technology, game engine software, spatialised sound, vibrohaptics, scent, thermal inputs and movement of air. These all require slightly different rehearsal and production methods to traditional theatre and film. Here we share a glimpse behind the scenes.
Movement director Leon Baugh explains what is happening in these three images:
“In the first image, we have a giant floorcloth with a mark up of the ground floor of Judith Scott’s childhood home, the details of which were provided by research designer ULTZ. A company of actors and young creatives are working together to measure and time every movement in our planned story. It is essential that the actors’ movements through space are really precisely mapped on the exact layout of the house, so that later we will be able to accurately place the performers in the digital version of Judith’s childhood home.
In the second image, actor Jodie McNee, who plays Judith’s mum is having her movements motion-captured in a motion capture studio at the Centre for Creative and Immersive Extended Reality (CCIXR), Portsmouth University. On the monitor we are able to check how Jodie’s movements match with the virtual model of Judith’s childhood home.
The third image shows an early virtual model of one room of the house that Jodie and the other actors have to imagine they are in when they are rehearsing and filming.”
Sound designer Gareth Fry explains what is happening in these three images:
“Judith Scott was deaf and so it has been essential in this multisensory biography to think about vibration and how she might have experienced and remembered the sensation of sound from her childhood home. In image 1, we are recording a power tool using a contact microphone.
In image 2, director Sacha Wares is testing out how vibration can be felt through a leg plate.
In image 3, we can see one moment in Inside where Judith’s Dad is using a power tool, which would have been felt by Judith, and which we want to ensure the audience can also feel and notice.”
VR Production Partner, All Seeing Eye on the importance of journeys
“Cars and the journey between places play a central role in Judith’s story. Judith’s older brother Jim has been very helpful in telling us all about the family car, a green Pontiac Chieftain. Image 1 shows our 3-Dimensional virtual version of Judith’s family’s car."
In image 2, you can see the actors having their performances captured at Portsmouth using motion capture. We then place the footage of the actors within the virtual car. Image 3 shows the family car inside the virtual world of the biography, just before it is about to reverse away from Judith’s childhood home.”
