Warriors fans can relive Finals trauma with virtual reality film

The documentary, narrated by actor Michael B. Jordan (who played Oscar Grant in 2013’s “Fruitvale Station” and starred in “Creed”), takes viewers behind the scenes during the Finals, in which — as Golden State fans remember all too well — the heavily favored Warriors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games.

Directors Gabe Spitzer and Ray Tintori placed VR cameras in spots that make viewers feel part of the action.

[...] the video, which is longer than usual for VR, also gives viewers more time to mentally suspend reality and start to believe they are actually present in the moments — on the floor for pregame ceremonies, sitting in courtside seats during games, standing in the middle of practices and covering postgame news conferences.

“Follow” tried to blend traditional filmmaking, which attempts to direct viewers’ attention to a key moment or element, and VR, which allows viewers time to look at the entire 360-degree area.

“This was an amazing opportunity to tell a propulsive, multiprotagonist story in VR about characters that people are passionately invested in, and to film those characters in the most climactic moments of their lives,” Tintori said in a press release.

Right now, the video is available in virtual reality only for owners of Samsung’s Gear VR headset, which also requires newer model Samsung mobile phones, and it will be available sometime in the future to owners of the Oculus Rift headset, an Oculus spokesman said.