Virtual reality today is quite young technology, despite the fact that the first attempts to create something similar was made decades ago. Today we can experience for yourself the numerous VR-rides, to play a great VR games and even watch a short animated VR movies. Over time, the scope of application of this technology will improve and deepen. What do you say, for example, about to take a direct part in the events of the film or the cartoon? And we are talking not about the distant future. This can be done very soon.
Last year we told you that the Facebook Corporation shut down one of their internal studios Story Studio tasked with creating an animated VR films for Oculus Rift headset. This direction guide Facebook considered unprofitable, despite the fact that talented artists and animators earned the Corporation an impressive number of awards and prestigious prizes for short time of existence of the Studio. Fortunately, the main part of staff Story Studio decided to continue the job. They based Fable Studio and are currently working on several interesting projects for virtual reality.
Tomorrow, in the framework of the Sundance film festival a young Studio will present their new animated film “the Wolves in the walls”, created on motives of the story by British author Neil Gaiman (“American gods”, “the Sandman”, “Stardust”, “Coraline” etc.). This surreal tale was written by Gaiman under the impression from the nightmare that had his 4-year-old daughter. In the dream the girl saw the wolves living in the walls of her house. The main heroine of the tale, the girl, Lucy, was faced with exactly the same mysterious circumstances. Parents don’t believe her, and the wolves meanwhile gradually take over the house and survive from it rightful owners.
Most interesting in this VR-adaptation that the viewer, wearing virtual reality headset, will be able to interact with the main character. It will not just be a silent witness of the events. The virtual character will chat with him to ask him for advice, playing games and so on. The creators of the animated film are confident that in this way the audience would believe that he had a true virtual friend, for whom you yourself are a false friend (it’s peculiar children). This is what the Studio will strive for in future projects: to destroy the “fourth wall” between the viewer and the characters in the movies. In future their works, the Studio will make possible the participation of several people in the live preview of the animation, when the audience will be able to interact not only with characters but also with each other.
The founders of the Studio believe that one day these friends will become an integral part of our lives. But this does not mean that humanity will inevitably come to be alone. No. You can consider it just an unusual addition to the range of emotions that you feel when watching your favorite movies or TV series. At the moment, the Fable Studio Studio while working on several new movies and VR projects. To make them as accessible as possible for users, founders of the Studio decided to evaluate their work at approximately 1 dollar per minute of content, which is significantly cheaper than current prices for similar activities. Sometimes a five-minute demo or VR-short film other studios asking for 15-20 dollars, which is not very nice.
In the near future, moviegoers will be an integral part of what is happening on the VR screen
Sergey Grey