Interactive, immersive documentaries aren’t common, but they are compelling, and a terrific example of the form just came out. Recently, I was able to chat in virtual space with Victor Agulhon of TARGO, the producer of D-Day: The Camera Soldier — a new immersive documentary exclusively for the Apple Vision Pro. TARGO has been focused on non-fiction storytelling in the VR space for some years now, and this is their first Apple Vision Pro project. Many different technologies are in play in this multimedia piece, and if you’re interested in documentaries, this is a really exciting new frontier. Let’s dig in. 

About Targo

Immersive production in general is an intriguing niche, and one that French studio TARGO has explored widely, on a variety of platforms. Their documentaries have included the Emmy finalist JFK Memento about the assassination of JFK, on Surviving 9/11, rebuilding the Notre Dame cathedral, and Behind the Dish which focuses on highly detailed close-up shots of food. 

While many of their projects have targeted the Meta Quest platform, some others are available on YouTube or on Oculus. D-Day: The Camera Soldier is their first work available for Apple Vision Pro, and it thoroughly explores the potential that the platform offers. 

About D-Day The Camera Soldier

The experience is not simply a stereoscopic video; many techniques are in use, and it breaks out of the traditional documentary format. The story follows Jennifer Taylor, a US Army soldier’s daughter, as she travels from her home in Connecticut to Omaha Beach in France. Retracing her father’s steps, her story moves from spatial (regular field of view) into fully immersive (180° field of view) stereoscopic video. Not many platforms allow you to pull off a surprise perspective shift like this — it’s great.

While I didn’t get to speak to Chloé Rochereuil, the director, she’s definitely succeeded here:

“As an immersive director, my goal is to break the barrier between the audience and the story — and that’s exactly what D-Day: The Camera Soldier does. It’s a documentary where immersion becomes the story. As Jennifer dives deeper into her father’s legacy, the viewer is drawn alongside her — transitioning seamlessly between different levels of immersion in the media.”

While video is the backbone of the documentary, key moments are augmented by 3D effects playing alongside the film, objects you can interact with appear during the story, and from time to time you’ll be placed within a fully immersive animated 3D model based on historical footage. After watching the video, the objects and 3D environments can be explored independently. It’s a multimedia feast with video at its centre, and well worth checking out. It’s live on the App Store now.

Production

Stereoscopic production is hard. While I’ve been experimenting with two-camera stereoscopy myself (look for a future article on that) it’s no spoiler to say that professional stereo shoots require special care and equipment. Since there are very few pro cameras capable of stereoscopic non-immersive recording at high resolution, using two cameras with a beam-splitter is a common approach.

If you’re not familiar, a beam-splitter uses a half-mirror piece of glass, similar to a teleprompter, allowing two cameras to shoot from nearly the same perspective. One camera is mounted behind the glass and another above or below, giving you the ability to record both left and right images with a controllable offset between the two cameras.

While Victor wasn’t able to share the specific beam-splitter rig they used, the camera used was the Blackmagic Micro Studio 4K G2, a small 4K camera that can run on battery power and supports Genlock. That last feature is common among studio cameras, but rare on mirrorless cameras, and it’s the best way to assure perfect, sub-frame-level sync. If you’re building a pro-level small stereo rig, this camera is definitely one to consider — here’s an example of a similar rig using the same camera.

According to Victor, the main advantage of such a small spatial rig in a documentary context is that it allows the crew to be small, just four or five people, and agile. This wasn’t the only camera in use though; the Canon R5C was paired with the RF dual fisheye 180° VR lens for most of the immersive shots, and the footage from that was upscaled, denoised and treated with a specific pipeline to make the footage look its best.

However, because the Canon lens is not well-suited to close-up work, the spatial camera rig was actually used to film some close-up immersive shots too. It turns out that it’s possible to enlarge a high quality spatial shot and present it in immersive when needed, though you do need to consider the final delivery method when considering framing.

Post-production in Resolve

As you might have expected for a production using Blackmagic cameras, Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve was used for post-production. Victor said that by using Resolve, they were able to bring the editing and grading process together to a single app, processing and aligning all the stereo footage in one place, and making it easier to find skilled post-production crew.

Staying on top of video production issues was important because this isn’t a simple project with a single finished deliverable. Instead, the video components — around 19 separate elements — were combined with Blender-made 3D models in the app Unity. Some of the transitions were handled in Resolve and integrated into the video, while others were implemented in Unity itself.

App-based distribution

By creating an app, the filmmakers were able to sidestep potential issues with immersive distribution. They were also able to incorporate 3D elements in unique ways, and also to present the spatial audio captured on set differently in different parts of the production. For example, when you’re viewing a regular 3D spatial screen, the sound comes from that screen, but when the video becomes immersive, the sound is all around you.

Also, creating an app is easily the best way to incorporate complex 3D scenes like the ones shown here. It’s compelling.

Fiction vs non-fiction

Victor and I spoke about how fiction and non-fiction productions face unique challenges in an immersive context. As the quality of immersive cameras increases, they become closer to reality. While that’s fantastic for non-fiction productions trying to present reality, it could actually be seen as a problem for fiction productions. While a regular 2D drama production can get away with costumes and sets that look great from one angle, a viewer seeing everything in amazing resolution in 3D is more likely to see the artifice than to suspend their disbelief.

As anyone who saw The Hobbit in 3D at 48 frames per second may remember, more frames and an extra dimension does not always help. If you have to manufacture that reality and don’t get it just right, the magic cinematic spell can be broken and you can end up feeling like you’re watching a theatre production rather than a movie.

TARGO is focused firmly on documentary, so they won’t face this problem, but it’s not insurmountable. Apple’s production Submerged showed that it is possible to do fiction in immersive, if you have the budget. Victor also recommended a series called The Faceless Lady, a VR180 horror production available on Meta Quest, so check that out if you can. There’s still room for exploration in the immersive space, and since the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive preorders are now trickling out, we should be seeing a lot more content soon. While this project was shot early in 2025 (before the camera was available) Victor is keen to use it on future projects.

Conclusion

At its core, the art of documentary is about sharing true stories. By presenting its message with more than just a screen, this piece brings you closer to the subject than a film alone could. It’s a little like a modern version of a classic multimedia DVD-ROM — a personal, interactive 3D museum exhibit that’s more immersive than ever.

Even if fiction turns out to be tricky to present in immersive, there’s a rich world of non-fiction out there to capture and present, and this is a great step forward. If you have a Quest, check out TARGO’s previous productions, and if you have an Apple Vision Pro, this is the one to try. Recommended.