Creating the 360˚ Drone Tour:

“The Black Spaces Matter team and I wanted to evoke in viewers a heightened awareness of the Abolition Row neighborhood while also providing an historical introduction. And we wanted to do it from a new angle. After all, when an audience views a place and a topic through a different frame, like that of 360˚ VR goggles, then viewers have a chance to understand physical, emotional and intellectual perspectives that they may not have considered before.

BLM curator Pamela Karimi and I previously recorded an audio-only interview with historian Kathryn Grover in which she described how Abolition Row evolved in the 19th century as Quaker ship owners moved from the waterfront up the hill. With only her audio, in a conventional documentary I’d simply edit Grover’s interview so the viewer could hear her while seeing b roll of what she was saying. But we didn’t want convention, and we couldn’t stage a period recreation of New Bedford — why not hear Grover along with sounds of the 19th century all while we take viewers on a 360˚ interactive tour above contemporary New Bedford?

The pressure was on. At the time of filming in 2017, 360˚ cameras were barely on the market and our first attempts were too shaky and low resolution. We were at the edge of what prosumer technology was able to do and the clock was ticking. Then, just as we considered ditching the idea, Garmin released the VIRB 360 for $900 with all the features we needed. I rented it, aerial camera operator Joel Cordero retrofitted his drone so it would attach, and we nailed the shots. We never really knew if it would work but if we had waited for the technology, we wouldn’t have been ready when it became available. 

The marriage of new technology with a call to understand new perspectives of our shared histories is what makes filmmaking exciting to me. It’s not just about the tools. It’s about how to use those tools to help viewers, including myself, reframe our physical, emotional and intellectual spaces.”

– Don Burton, filmmaker

The VR Street Tour and 360˚spherical photography were designed and created by digital media artist, Michael Swartz; The Drone Tour was produced by filmmaker, Don Burton with aerial photography by Joel Cordero. All works were originally featured in the Black Spaces Matter exhibition.