VR Film Allumette Stuns
Virtual reality was a huge topic a this year's NAB Show, featuring products by leading VR innovators and being the big buzz topic all around. Wired's review gives us another view into the creative and game-changing VR film genre, with this review/experience of Allumette.
FIVE MINUTES INTO watching Allumette, I realized what Penrose Studios‘ innovative VR project reminded me of. It’s as if an elaborate model-train setup has come to life, floating at eye level on a 360-degree platter. And this intricate world is inhabited by tiny stop-motion characters straight out of a Rankin/Bass Christmas special.
Everything’s computer-generated, but the digital 3-D models manage to look sculpted and organic, from the realistic textures of the stone buildings to the human figures. It’s an inventive experience in a brand-new medium—but watching the characters with their herky-jerky motions makes it feel almost familiar.
You’re not just a static observer in this world. Allumette was built for positional-tracking headsets, giving it a sense of dimension, realism, and dynamic perspective. Lean in towards the Smurf-size characters and tiny bridges to get a closer look. View the protagonist from all sides, following her around the corner of a winding staircase. Walk around a bit inside the miniscule, Venice-inspired city in the clouds, taking in the scenery from any angle you like. Oh, and you also have X-ray vision: Poke your head through walls and windows to see important plot developments going on inside. There’s a story unfolding—a heartbreaking one, at that, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s short story “The Little Match Girl”—and you’re the director of photography...[continue reading on Wired]
The Stunning Allumette is the First VR Film Masterpiece
Wired by Tim MoynihanFIVE MINUTES INTO watching Allumette, I realized what Penrose Studios‘ innovative VR project reminded me of. It’s as if an elaborate model-train setup has come to life, floating at eye level on a 360-degree platter. And this intricate world is inhabited by tiny stop-motion characters straight out of a Rankin/Bass Christmas special.
Everything’s computer-generated, but the digital 3-D models manage to look sculpted and organic, from the realistic textures of the stone buildings to the human figures. It’s an inventive experience in a brand-new medium—but watching the characters with their herky-jerky motions makes it feel almost familiar.
You’re not just a static observer in this world. Allumette was built for positional-tracking headsets, giving it a sense of dimension, realism, and dynamic perspective. Lean in towards the Smurf-size characters and tiny bridges to get a closer look. View the protagonist from all sides, following her around the corner of a winding staircase. Walk around a bit inside the miniscule, Venice-inspired city in the clouds, taking in the scenery from any angle you like. Oh, and you also have X-ray vision: Poke your head through walls and windows to see important plot developments going on inside. There’s a story unfolding—a heartbreaking one, at that, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s short story “The Little Match Girl”—and you’re the director of photography...[continue reading on Wired]
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