Category: oculus story studios

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Oculus Sends 5 VR Experiences to Sundance 2018

The Sundance Film Festival just kicked off in Park City, Utah, and Oculus announced in a blogpost they’re debuting five experiences at the New Frontier section of Sundance—all of which they helped bring to life.

Sundance’s New Frontier hosts a curated selection of works realized in the mediums of VR, AR, MR and AI. You can check out a full list of every entry into their year’s Sundance New Frontier showcase here.

Oculus will be doing a deep dive on each experience they’ve brought to Sundance, the first of which details the making of will.i.am and The Black Eyed Peas’ Masters of the Sun.

Dispatch

Written and directed by Edward Robles of Here Be Dragons, Dispatch follows a small-town police dispatcher (Martin Starr, Silicon Valley) as he faces an all-night crime spree. The experience takes you inside the dispatcher’s perspective in this episodic, audio-based miniseries. The first three episodes launched on Rift and Gear VR in November, and the finale will launch on the Oculus Store January 25 following its world premiere at Sundance.

Masters of the Sun

Launching for Gear VR, Masters of the Sun is presented by will.i.am and The Black Eyed Peas. It takes place during the ’80s when ancient and modern forces of evil started destroying black communities. Vocal talent including Rakim, Queen Latifah, KRS-One, Jason Isaacs, Slick Rick, and comics industry legend Stan Lee tell the story of mobilization and reclaiming their city, fighting back against the evils of drugs, crime, and discrimination.

Check out Oculus’ Q & A with will.i.am here.

Space Explorers

The latest project from Felix & Paul Studios, Space Explorers lets you reach new heights through the power of VR. Created in partnership with NASA, the experience follows their astronauts as they prepare to launch into space. Space Explorers is coming to Oculus in 2018.

SPHERES

The first chapter of SPHERES, called “Songs Of Spacetime,” is debuting at Sundance. SPHERES is a three-part series that transports viewers into the deepest pockets of the Universe, bringing to life future worlds and exploring oneness with the cosmos. SPHERES is created by Eliza McNitt and will launch on Rift in 2018.

Wolves in the Walls

From the team behind the Emmy Award-winning project Henry comes Wolves in the Walls, a gorgeous, interactive adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s haunting work brought to life in VR. Wolves in the Walls is coming to Oculus in 2018.

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Oculus Story Studio’s ‘Wolves in the Walls VR’ to Premier at Sundance

Wolves in the Walls, the terrifying children’s book from Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, is getting its own VR experience. Created as one of the last projects of the now-defunct Oculus Story Studio, Wolves in the Walls VR is making its debut at Sundance Film Festival this year.

Oculus Story Studios created three VR experiences before Facebook shuttered the studio back in May; Dear Angelica, Lost, and Henry. The studio’s highly-polished experiences were created to showcase the promise of gripping VR narratives, and while the mission was more or less completed, Wolf in the Walls VR was left unfinished.

According to a report by Variety, most of the Story Studio team couldn’t accept that Gaiman’s VR adaptation was left unfinished. Despite officially disbanding, a majority of the team stayed together to quietly work on the project, which fortuitously received additional funding from Oculus as well.

image courtesy Oculus

Wolves in the Walls follows the ever-imaginative Lucy as she hears wolves crawling in the walls of her family’s home. Stepping into the shoes of Lucy’s imaginary friend, executive producer Saschka Unseld says the experience aims to solve the puzzle of “how to organically combine​ ​a​ ​compelling​ ​and emotional​ ​story​ ​with​ ​interactive​ ​worlds​ ​and​ ​characters.”

New York-based immersive theater company ​Third​ ​Rail​ ​Projects developed the story’s choreography, and was directed by DreamWorks Animation veteran ​Pete​ ​Billington and ​Jessica​ ​Shamash, known for her work at Pixar.

image courtesy Third Rail Projects

“After​ ​Henry,​ ​we​ ​knew​ ​that​ ​we​ ​wanted​ ​to​ ​created​ ​a​ ​deeply​ ​interactive​ ​character.​ ​Something​ ​that​ ​wasn’t​ ​passive​ ​or bound​ ​to​ ​the​ ​rectangular​ ​format​ ​of​ ​traditional​ ​media,” Billington said in a prepared statement.

“Lucy​ ​was​ ​our​ ​friend.​ ​We​ ​cared​ ​for​ ​her.​ ​She​ ​felt​ ​more​ ​than​ ​a​ ​3D​ ​character,” Shamash added.

The first chapter of Wolves in the Walls VR is set to premiere at Sundance in January, with two additional chapters currently in the works, although release date is uncertain at this time.

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6 VR Experiences Nominated for 2017 Emmy Awards, Oculus Receives Multiple Nominations

The 69th Emmy Awards nominations are out, and while it’s true the Emmys were created to recognize excellence in the television industry, virtual reality as a medium has been lauded with six total nominations this year, three of which are thanks to content created by Oculus.

There isn’t an official ‘VR’ section of the Emmys, rather the nominations have been spread between two categories: ‘Outstanding Original Interactive Program’ and ‘Outstanding Creative Achievment in Interactive Media Within a Scripted Program’.

Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Within A Scripted Program

  • The Mr. Robot Virtual Reality Experience USA Universal Cable Productions, Here Be Dragons, Esmail Corp. and
    Anonymous Content (360 video on YouTube)
  • Stranger Things VR Experience – Netflix – Netflix and CBS Digital (360 video on YouTube)
  • The Simpsons – Planet Of The Couches – play.google.com – Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox Television and Google Spotlight Stories (download here for Google Cardboard)

Outstanding Original Interactive Program

image courtesy Oculus

Oculus’ Henry, the company’s Pixar-esque VR cartoon that follows the woes of a lonely hedgehog, won the 2016 Emmy for Outstanding Original Interactive Program, becoming the first VR original narrative to do so. While the company’s production studio Oculus Story Studios—which saw the release of Lost, Henry, and Dear Angelica—is now shuttered, Oculus says they’re earmarking $50 million of the $250 million they recently committed to invest in VR content exclusively for external investments in “non-gaming, experiential VR content.”

This effectively means Oculus will be funneling funds away from internal production in order to further grow the nascent industry of VR-based narratives. There’s no word on whether these $50 million will come with platform exclusivity however, although it would make sense from a business perspective for Oculus to do so. More high-quality, exclusive content on the Oculus Store equates to a high perceived value in their growing milieu of VR headsets, possibly including a reported Oculus-branded $200 standalone VR headset to come next year.

We’ll be tuning in to this year’s Emmy Awards on September 17th at 5PM PT (local time here). Check out the full list of this year’s Emmy nominations here.

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Facebook Is Shutting Down VR Content Division Oculus Story Studio

Facebook Is Shutting Down VR Content Division Oculus Story Studios

In a surprise announcement, Facebook is announcing today that it will be shuttering Oculus Story Studio.

Story Studio is the team within Oculus that focused on the creation of narrative driven virtual reality content like the emmy award winning Henry, emotionally moving story Dear Angelica and breakout content like Lost. Story Studio is also the creator of Quill — a VR artistic creation platform similar to Google’s Tilt Brush.

According to a blog post today penned by Oculus’ VP of Content Jason Rubin, the closure of Story Studio is happening so that the team can focus on its established pattern of investing in the work of outside studios. Rubin’s previous job was heading up Oculus Studios proper, which has doled out a whopping $250 million to team’s ranging from indie startups to established brands like Insomniac.

Facebook has pledged to spend at least another $250 million on content development in the coming years and, according to Rubin’s post, $50 million of that will now be devoted to “exclusively fund non-gaming, experiential VR content. This money will go directly to artists to help jumpstart the most innovative and groundbreaking VR ideas.”

Much like the broader $250 million investment figure, his $50 million is viewed by Facebook as a floor not a ceiling and the company is willing to spend more than this on the right projects.

Lost by Oculus Story Studio

Rubin will be the one heading up the distribution of these funds and the recruitment of new, artistically minded developers to the Oculus platform. Rubin writes:

“Now that a large community of filmmakers and developers are committed to the narrative VR art form, we’re going to focus on funding and supporting their content. This helps us turn our internal research, development, and focus towards exciting but unsolved problems in AR and VR hardware and software.

…Lost,Henry, Dear Angelica, and Quill set the foundation upon which VR storytelling sits today. The Story Studio team are pioneers in VR development and their groundbreaking works will continue to be available on the Oculus Store. Story Studio did an incredible job sharing their behind the scenes tips and techniques with the community—from Talking With Ghosts — a Story Studio project that was announced but not yet released — is currently ambiguous with Facebook promising updates over the next few months.

The Story Studio team built some of the most visually exciting and technically progressive VR experiences we’ve ever seen. We want to wish them all the best of luck in their future pursuits.

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Werdet Teil eines Comics in „Talking with Ghosts“ von Oculus Story Studios

Das neueste Projekt von Oculus Story Studio Talking with Ghosts umfasst vier animierte Geschichten im Comicstil. Selbstverständlich sind die imposanten Handlungsstränge durch VR illustriert und zum Leben erweckt. Dadurch wird es für jeden möglich in eine Comicwelt einzutauchen.

Vier animierte VR-Filme erwarten euch in Talking with Ghosts

Der Titel umfasst eine Kollektion von vier verschiedenen Filmen, die jeweils aus der Feder von unterschiedlichen Zeichnern stammen. Jeder Film wurde innerhalb der VR erstellt, jedoch unterscheiden sich die einzelnen Filme in ihrem Stil. Dies betrifft sowohl den künstlerischen Aspekt als auch die Handlung. So gibt es Zeitsprünge, eine Geistergeschichte, eine Kriegsgeschichte und eine absurde Runde Minigolf zu sehen. Ein gemeinsames Ziel haben die Filme jedoch, und zwar das Ziel den Zuschauer direkt in die virtuellen Comics eintauchen zu lassen.

Die Titel der Filme

Im ersten Film Fairground von Sophie Foster-Dimino besuchen zwei Freunde aus Kindertagen einen alten Rummelplatz. Dabei kollidieren ihre unterschiedlichen Vorstellungen aus der Vergangenheit und der Zukunft. Der zweite Film The Neighborhood von Roman Muradov ist eine Geistergeschichte. Diese erzählt von der Beziehung zwischen Geist und Hausmieter. Ganz anders The Reservoir von Ric Carrasquillo: ein Drama über die Beziehung eines Liebespaares, das bei einer Runde Minigolf entsteht. Der letzte Film nennt sich Tattoo Warrior von Maria Yi und handelt von einer epischen Geschichte über Krieg und Liebe – gezeigt durch ein 3D-Tattoo.

Talking-with-Ghosts-Logo-Oculus-Story-Studio-VR-Film

Interessant ist die Vorgehensweise der Künstler, denn jeder nutzte das VR-Tool Quill zum Erstellen der Comics. Nach Dear Angelica soll Talking with Ghosts eine Weiterentwicklung in VR-Filmen sein. Die Premiere des Projekts ist am 21. April auf dem Tribeca Film Festival. Damit sollen andere Künstler inspiriert werden, ebenfalls an neuartigen Projekten, wie VR-Filmen oder Kunstprojekten zu arbeiten. Die vier Autoren und Oculus Story Studios vereint ihre Liebe zu den Comics, die in Talking with Ghosts auf den Zuschauer überspringt. Der Titel erscheint. nach der Premiere im laufenden Kalenderjahr, im Oculus Store.

Der Beitrag Werdet Teil eines Comics in „Talking with Ghosts“ von Oculus Story Studios zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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Oculus’ ‘Henry’ Becomes the First VR Film to Win an Emmy

Oculus Story Studios’ Henry, the tale of a lovable, hard to hug hedgehog and his search for friendship, has walked away with the first ever Emmy awarded to a virtual reality film.

I wrote recently that the traditional motion picture entertainment industry seemed to be gravitating towards immersive media, keen to explore creative and financial possibilities, and now one of the earliest VR films has itself become recognised by that industry, awarded as “Outstanding Original Interactive Program.”

If you own an Oculus Rift consumer headset, it’s unlikely you’ll have missed Henry, the first film made specifically for virtual reality to come out of Oculus Story Studios – itself set up to explore the creative possibilities VR might afford. It’s the story of the titular hedgehog with a desperate desire for friendship, but whose less than cuddly exterior foils his attempts to do so.

henry-emmy

Henry’s a delightful experience, channelling as it does the charm present in many of Pixar’s trailblazing CG animated features, but the film also represents a milestone in the world of VR entertainment. Henry represents an early attempt at both extending and in some cases completely re-inventing the language of linear visual storytelling, inherited TV and movies to cope with, and take advantage of, the ‘look anywhere’ challenges virtual reality presents. This is something that the OSS team explored in depth in their presentation at last year’s Oculus Connect conference. You can watch it below, and it’s highly recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject.

So, after all of that pioneering work, predictably, the Oculus Story Studio team are over the moon. “When we set out to make Henry, it was a step into the unknown world of making an emotional VR movie,” says Ramiro Lopez Dau, director of Henry, “While we didn’t know what the outcome was going to be, we were excited about the possibilities. We never anticipated that one of our first projects would be given such a distinction and this recognition is not only a testament to our team’s creative and technical achievements, but also a validation for the VR storytelling community as a whole. While Henry is just one step in the long journey ahead, we hope this moment inspires storytellers to bring their ideas to this new medium and help shape the future of VR storytelling.”

Oculus Story Studios is continuing on it’s experimental journey into VR film-making. It’s already released LOST, and will soon release Dear Angelica, a VR film previewed at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and with an altogether different feel to Henry.

Here’s hoping Henry‘s Emmy win inspires more of those Hollywood executives and creatives to seek out and invest in virtual reality as a narrative platform. In the mean time, Henry is available on the Oculus Store for free.

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