Dec 5, 2016

Sundance's 2017 New Frontiers VR program offers a number of animation projects

The 2017 Sundance Institute's New Frontiers program is increasingly producing VR short films; a program of vr and augmented reality experiences has just been announced for the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Some of the experiences are by directors and artists who have worked in traditional and CG animation, while others represent the rise of dedicated VR studios. [Each year, more and more artists are drawn to the vanguard of art and technology. Independent creative storytellers have more unconventional tools than ever before," said Robert Redford, president and founder of the Sundance Institute. Over the past decade, New Frontier's vision has evolved and grown with this expanding palette, curating and showcasing the most exciting new work created by the latest advances."

Here we preview five of the animation-centric VR experiences that will be part of New Frontier. The full list of projects can be found on the Sundance site.

Artist Eric Darnell

Eric Darnell directed DreamWorks Animation's "Madagascar" and is now a co-founder of Baobab! This new "Asteroids!" short follows the new adventures of alien duo Mac and Cheese; Baobab has already received significant funding and appears to be leading the way in accessible, 360-degree immersive short films.

Artist Saschka Unseld Main collaborators: Angela Petrella, Wesley Allsbrook, Maxwell Planck, Ryan Thomas

Last week we announced that Oculus' upcoming VR drawing for Touch tool for the new hardware for free, and we just noted that Quill was developed specifically for Saschka Unseld's "Dear Angelica" to achieve painterly brush stroke effects in the vr environment. The former Pixar artist's work was previewed at the last Sundance Film Festival and has shown great promise.

Artist Tyler Hurd

Tyler Hurd has made a name for himself in VR music videos. A former game artist with Double Fine Productions, Hurd created an early vr short called "Butts" in 2014, and more recently, the band Future Islands' room-scale presented in the Virtual Arcade section of the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. He produced the vr music video "Old Friend" for Giraffage's "Chocolate," which takes place in a glittering world with lots of cats and robot gods, perfect for vr.

Artists Gil Baron, Johnny Ross, Adam Levine Main collaborators: Johnny Ross, Gil Baron

L.A.-based studio Visionary VR is working on a VR experience where users actually create interactive films called Mindshow," in which users actually create an interactive film. To do this, users record a 3D game environment, create a virtual set, and add characters. But that's not all; they can also share the scenes they create back and forth with friends and post them online.

Artists Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël Main collaborators: Owen Burke

The virtual reality studio Félix & Paul has been involved in the production of "Jurassic World", "Cirque du Soleil", the movie "Wild The company is already known for its immersive shows that focus on cinematic experiences, such as "Jurassic World," "Cirque du Soleil," and the film "Wild. Miyubi" features a Japanese toy robot and a family living in suburban America in 1982. Interestingly, the team has inserted about 40 minutes of hidden scenes, so it looks like there will be plenty to explore in this experience.