The NBA and Oculus just released one of the longest, most dynamic VR films so far

Follow My Lead: The Story of the 2016 NBA Finals marks a strange milestone. At 25 minutes long, it’s one of the first virtual reality films to approach the length of a single TV episode. If this sounds like a small achievement, though, think of it this way: Oculus, the NBA, and a production company called m ss ng p eces (prounounced "missing pieces") can get people to sit down and strap potentially motion sickness-inducing goggles to their face for nearly half an hour; play them video stitched together from a nascent, complicated camera setup; and still deliver something with enough style and momentum to keep a non-sports fan like me interested.

As its name suggests, Follow My Lead is a Gear VR mini-documentary about this year’s dramatic showdown between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, narrated by actor Michael B. Jordan. This is far from the NBA’s first foray into VR. The organization was one of the first major sports to take a serious interest in the medium, partnering with Samsung on a 360-degree video initiative in early 2015. Cavaliers player LeBron James even got his own VR short made by studio Felix & Paul, following James’ daily training regimen. But this is a larger, more narrative-driven project. "We wanted people to stop saying, oh, you can only use VR to do this story, or that story," says Oculus head of video Eugene Wei. "There are a lot of things that VR video can do, a lot more than people believe. But you just have to show them that it’s possible."

The 25-minute video achieves flow at the cost of imperfection

VR films tend to be slow and meditative, featuring long shots and slice-of-life stories. Follow My Lead isn’t a rapid-fire piece of cinematography, but it uses quicker cuts and some techniques that are rarely found in VR filmmaking, like rolling dolly shots. It dispenses with the idea that switching between angles will alienate viewers, or that 360-degree video should put people directly in the middle of the action — important things always happen directly in front of you, although you can look to the side or behind for extra detail.

The flip side is that in order to achieve this flow, Oculus and m ss ng p eces have had to accept a certain number of rough edges. There are clear stitching lines and mismatches in parts of the video, especially the rolling shots, where looking behind you will reveal a pinched half-man pulling the camera along. "There’s a lot of things that you should and shouldn’t do right now, because you’re still handholding the audience in this new medium," says studio founder Ari Kuschnir. "But we felt moments like that, they’re so present that whatever imperfection is there, what’s happening is much more powerful for the story." There’s also nothing anyone can do about the relatively low resolution of headsets, which render faces fuzzy and courtside scenes slightly muddy — although since most people will watch it as Facebook 360-degree video, not a VR film, that’s not an issue for everyone.

Follow My Lead isn’t necessarily a sign that we’re going to start seeing longer and longer VR films, although the Venice Film Festival premiered the feature-length Jesus VR earlier this month, to poor reviews. The NBA finals, which saw a near-victory by the Warriors before a climactic comeback and victory for the Cavaliers, are unusually good raw material; there’s a built-in chronology and dramatic arc that most nonfiction VR doesn’t have. And it’s hard to imagine watching a feature-length version of this sort of documentary, although serialized video remains an option.

Follow My Lead also isn’t necessarily a piece that will stand the test of time; it makes more sense as a commemoration of something that just happened than something that people will watch in a decade to remember the event. Still, it feels like an unexpected step forward — not a pinnacle of artistic flourish, but a sign that longform entertainment is within the medium’s grasp.

Follow My Lead is free on the Gear VR store and Facebook 360 Video; it will also be shown to visitors at the NBA Store on 5th Ave in Manhattan.