Duplex Season Two Ventures into Metaverse

ZDF Studios has launched worldwide distribution for the second season of the ZDFneo comedy series Duplex (Doppelhaushälfte), which ventures into virtual worlds and sends its protagonists into the metaverse.

The future of the internet is the center of the series’ narrative. The episode “Meta” picks up on the current discourse, criticism and enthusiasm for virtual worlds. In the episode, the Sawadi-Kröger and Knuppe families are guests at a virtual vernissage. The entire episode was shot in the metaverse, which gave actors and actresses the opportunity to control their avatars themselves.

For the shoot, the cast was equipped with VR goggles, headsets, controllers and full-body trackers. All of their movements were recorded in real time in the virtual world by a camera team, who filmed the action with invisible digital avatars and cameras. At filming time, extras from all over the world gathered at the respective online locations to take part in the project.

Duplex is directed by Dennis Schanz, who wrote the script with Christoph Mushayija Rath. It is produced on behalf of ZDFneo by ICONOCLAST Films.

“It is actually difficult to move in this 3-D world,” said Minh-Khai Phan-Thi, who stars in the series. “As an actress, it’s even more difficult because you only see your partner virtually. You don’t see any facial expressions, only that the mouth is moving.”