Face VR Zombies This Month in Daylight’s End
Zombies have taken over almost every single medium known to man thus far, so it was only a matter of time before they also conquered the realm of VR! The upcoming film Daylight’s End will arrive in theaters on August 26, and a VR edition will be available on the same day.
From the Press Release:
Groove Jones – the Dallas-based virtual reality (VR) studio specializing in the production of 360º commercials and virtual reality – along with DAYLIGHT’S END’s theatrical director and writer, announces the planned release of a VR Edition of the film in conjunction with the theatrical release of the movie when it hits theaters on August 26th.
This is the first time a movie has been simultaneously released in theaters, as a digital download on iTunes, and as a VR experience. The movie will be available on all major VR platforms, including the HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR. The VR chapter of the film was directed by Dale Carman, Partner & Executive Creative Director (ECD) of Groove Jones.
“We think VR is a powerful storytelling medium, and we knew this movie had the right elements to show it off,” said Carman. “It was an amazing shoot, and we know that people will want to see what we created. Once movie audiences get the full VR experience, we believe this will be the first of many for the industry.”
DAYLIGHT’S END was shot in Dallas and points ranging from East Texas to the West Texas town of Rio (pop. 3) along the famed Route 66. The film is a hard driving action-horror-thriller starring Johnny Strong (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, BLACK HAWK DOWN), Lance Henriksen (ALIEN, TERMINATOR), and Louis Mandylor (MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, SINNERS AND SAINTS). The movie focuses on a rogue drifter who’s on a vengeful hunt, years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures.
The cast and crew of the movie DAYLIGHT’S END regrouped to shoot some special scenes recently in Dallas. These scenes will appear in the VR Edition of the film. Carman collaborated with both William Kaufman (THE PRODIGY, SINNERS AND SAINTS, and THE HIT LIST), the DAYLIGHT’S END’s theatrical director, and Chad Law (THE HIT LIST, ISOLATION, and 6 BULLETS), the writer of the film, on post-production of the VR Edition.
“Seeing what Dale pulled off with this shoot in 360º turned out to be a great experience. He comes with a long resume of directing VR productions and really understands what will and will not work,” Kaufman said. “The look and feel and energy falls right in line with the film.”
Chad Law wrote the story for the VR vignette, in which movie fans will be able to recognize some friendly and unfriendly faces. The VR chapter is a prequel storyline that stars Johnny Strong, returning as “Thomas Rourke,” the dark and dangerous anti-hero in the feature film.
The scene also features the work of noted industry Stunt Coordinator Clayton Barber, who helped the actors with physical scenes that included escaping the undead for both the movie and the VR release. The VR Edition scenes were shot with the Jaunt ONE camera system, which includes 24 separate camera lenses to capture the 360º action.
Groove Jones leveraged their GrooveTech™ platform for the experience that works across all VR devices. The technology allows for the rapid development of VR applications that can utilize HD stereo video content in a 3D environment as well as real-time rendered objects within a 360º space. Several of Groove Jones’ commercial clients have licensed this technology for their brand activations. Leveraging this technology reduced the development time and allowed the team to focus on the story and creative.
“We are thrilled that we were able to get the theatrical team together for this VR experience,” said Carman. “Being agile and forward-thinking, we’ve pulled off something that everyone talks about, but rarely delivers.”
The VR Edition will be released on August 26th, the same day that the film is released in theaters. For more information visit daylightsendmovie.com and groovejones.com.
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