Short film version of the Virtual Reality experience directed by Eric Darnell has screened at Cannes, Tribeca, Annecy, VIEW, and the SIGGRAPH 2016 Computer Animation Festival.
Today marks the arrival of Google’s Daydream View VR headset, the latest addition to the company’s new mobile VR ecosystem joining the Pixel and Pixel XL Daydream-compatible smartphones.
While it is yet to be seen if Daydream will prove to be the definitive way to watch YouTube content with a headset, the app allows users to watch 360-degree YouTube videos with the headset, allowing them to look around as if they were really there.
VR studio Baobab Studios, which was opened in 2015 by industry veterans Maureen Fan and Eric Darnell, is launching its virtual reality short, INVASION!, on the new platform, and have unveiled a sneak peek at its forthcoming project, ASTEROIDS!
INVASION!, which is already available on HTC Vive, Samsung Gear and other VR platforms, is a charming five-minute film narrated by Ethan Hawke in which users follow a rabbit as he meets a pair of clumsy alien invaders and attempts to outsmart them before the world falls victim to them.
Directed by Darnell, who previously helmed all four Madagascar movies, and former DreamWorks Animation global head of character technology Larry Cutler, INVASION! was accepted to screen earlier this year at Cannes, Tribeca, Annecy and the SIGGRAPH 2016 Computer Animation Festival. Baobab co-founder and CEO Fan also delivered an enthusiastically received presentation on the project at October’s VIEW Conference.
Baobab Studios is teaming with Roth Kirschenbaum Films -- headed by Maleficent producer Joe Roth and former Universal co-president Jeffrey Kirschenbaum -- to bring the characters and story of INVASION! to the big screen.
Check out the trailer for INVASION! in the player below, and head over to the Baobab website for the sneak peek of ASTEROIDS!
Source: Baobab Studios
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
