![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767935232_714_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Musician David Low and his family in virtual reality film \u201cOut of the Ashes,\u201d which shows the destruction \u2014 and reconstruction \u2014 of the Palisades and Eaton fires. <\/p>\n
(The Mercantile Agency)<\/p>\n
Filming is continuing on the project, which began just days after the flames ignited. Filmmaker, academic and virtual reality pioneer Nonny de la Pe\u00f1a secured media access to the burn zones for her and a small team via her role as the program director of narrative and emerging media at Arizona State University, which she operates out of offices in downtown Los Angeles. \u201cI knew that this was going to be transitory type of situation, that it was going to change quickly,\u201d says De la Pe\u00f1a, co-director on the film with Rory Mitchell. \u201cI\u2019ve covered enough disaster stories to know how huge this was.\u201d <\/p>\n
De la Pe\u00f1a has long been at the forefront of merging immersive technologies and journalism. Her 2012 project \u201cHunger in Los Angeles,<\/a>\u201d for instance, was the first VR documentary to screen at Sundance. \u201cI think this technology is unique,\u201d De la Pe\u00f1a says. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of helicopter footage, but when you\u2019re right there in it, it\u2019s a different perspective as to what happened.\u201d For this documentary, she partnered with Mitchell, an independent filmmaker, whose augmented-reality tabletop experience \u201cThe Tent\u201d premiered at SXSW last year. <\/p>\n In my preview of \u201cOut of the Ashes,\u201d one segment whisks me to the coastline. If I angle my head down, I see the glistening lights of the Santa Monica Pier. Look up ever so slightly, however, and the sky is charred red and black. I hear a cello, and soon musician David Low stands before me, recounting the day the flames began and the rush to remove his young son from school to help rescue a smattering of heirlooms. <\/p>\n The family saved a few plushies and a couple prized musical instruments, but in the urgency to leave, not much else. He sits at a kitchen table, reconstructed in VR from family photos, but the rest of the home has vanished. As I see glimpses of Low\u2019s home before and after the fires, I again feel as if I\u2019m standing in a liminal space, a remembrance but also a reminder. Low exists only as a 3D figure before me, but I wish I could reach out my hand. <\/p>\n The instinct to extend a hand feels natural in virtual reality, as it\u2019s visceral and creates a sense of presence. And it also seems a part of the mission for \u201cOut of the Ashes,\u201d a work as much about the effects of the fires as it is a vessel for collective grief<\/a> and empathy. \u201cSometimes, you just need someone to say, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m sorry that happened to you.\u2019 Sometimes you just need someone to hug you,\u201d says De la Pe\u00f1a. \u201cWhen you lose that much, it\u2019s sometimes hard to fathom.\u201d <\/p>\n Landscape architect Esther Margulies discusses which trees did and didn\u2019t burn in the Palisades and Eaton fires in the virtual reality film \u201cOut of the Ashes.\u201d<\/p>\n (The Mercantile Agency)<\/p>\n Adds Mitchell, \u201cWe understand the numbers and acreage,\u201d he says before rattling off a host of fire statistics<\/a>. \u201cBut it\u2019s only through story that we can begin to wrap our hearts and brains around the scale of the emotional devastation, and the psychic pain that the city has gone through. Maybe this can provide a way into this collective pain and a way to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Another aspect of \u201cOut of the Ashes\u201d is augmented reality, which will also be shown at the Music Center event. The tech is used to capture short snapshots of scenes from Altadena and the Palisades. <\/p>\n Retired professor Ted Porter, for instance, recalls buying a loaf of his late wife\u2019s favorite bread when the winds first started, thinking he may need something to nibble on if the power went out. Melissa Rivers talks of grabbing photos of her late father, and running for her mother\u2019s Emmy, recalling how meaningful the award was to Joan. \u201cI don\u2019t know why I grabbed what I grabbed,\u201d Rivers says. \u201cIt\u2019s just what I did.\u201d They\u2019re short scenes in which a small item floats before us, and they\u2019re reflective of life\u2019s unpredictability, but also how, in times of stress, our minds race to the symbols that truly matter to us. <\/p>\n \u201cPart of what this process is, is trying to provide a space for the folks directly affected by it, who are trying to rebuild their lives and explain to their children what happened,\u201d Mitchell says. \u201cEveryone is going to process at difference speeds and in different ways, but to do that collectively and communally is the hope with this.\u201d<\/p>\n The Friday event, officially dubbed the Music Center\u2019s Innovation Social: Reflections on Loss, Hope and Renewal, will also include a live musical performance by survivors of the Eaton fire. Guests will additionally have the ability to learn how to use 3D scanning tools via their smartphones to begin to create their own short, memory-filled clips. Acorns will also be given away as representations of resilience, and audio interviews of those who experienced the fires will be collected into a sound collage.<\/p>\n The Music Center’s Innovation Social: Reflections on Loss, Hope and Renewal<\/p>\n De la Pe\u00f1a and Mitchell say they have more work to do on the film, which, when completed, can be brought to festivals or become its own touring exhibition. Updates will be posted on the Instagram of Mitchell\u2019s production company<\/a>. \u201cWe want people to know what we\u2019ve gone through,\u201d Mitchell says. <\/p>\n And what we continue to experience. One virtual reality segment centers on landscape architect Esther Margulies discussing the effects of climate change and the importance of planting California live oaks <\/a>\u2014 \u201cember catchers,\u201d says Mitchell \u2014 rather than palm trees. In the headset, we see Margulies standing amid fire-burned trees, a stark, dreadful landscape. This contrasts soon, however, with the surviving oaks, shown standing grandly among empty, otherwise deserted streets. Amid much despair, they\u2019re framed as one small symbol of hope. <\/p>\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767935233_94_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n