After finishing the VR version of Ricerca, I joined Here Be Dragons (f.k.a. Vrse.Works) in Hollywood, CA in April 2016. For two years, I worked on a number of the company's most innovative projects— spanning from high-end stereo 360 videos to realtime game engine series and volumetric capture.
Dispatch
Dispatch, an episodic story told in four parts, follows a small-town police dispatcher named Ted (Martin Starr) on the worst night of his life. What begins as a domestic violence call quickly cascades into a host of attacks across town, and the local police are struggling to keep up.
Directed by Edward Robles, this was a piece developed within Here Be Dragons for release on Oculus Rift and GearVR/OculusGo. I worked with Edward, producer Susan Applegate, and EPs Luisa Murray and Fredrik Frizell across the entire development of the series. Whether it was discussing story interactions and scalar momentum with Ed, or managing the build progress with lead developer Fire Panda (Nick Pittom), it was both an honor and a tremendous journey to make Dispatch a reality.
Check out Dispatch on Oculus Rift or GearVR/Go
Sessions: Legion Mixed Reality
Sessions: The Legion Mixed Reality Experience is a fully immersive mixed reality experience—powered by Microsoft HoloLens—that brings FX’s critically acclaimed series, Legion, to life. Inspired by key scenes in Season 1 of the series, users could be David Haller and showcase their powers. In addition to full use of the HoloLens, Sessions features real-life actors that make you believe in your abilities and the world you've entered.
Director Justin Denton from Here Be Dragons spearheaded this piece, and there were many prototypes and test-sessions held late into evenings at the office to ensure that there was a balance of human performance with the magic of room-scale AR.
Ghost in the Shell VR Experience
Created in collaboration with Paramount Pictures, Oculus Studios, REWIND, and Here Be Dragons, the Ghost in the Shell experience follows Major (Scarlett Johansson) as she deep dives into her psyche to explore her memories in search of her ghost. This piece was built in Unreal, using motion capture for all characters.
Try Ghost in the Shell for Oculus Rift or GearVR/Go
Always: A VR Story
Created by director Hal Kirkland, Always is about lifelong friendship— our friendships are built on the moments we share. A young woman must overcome the distractions of work and daily life to reconnect with her lifelong best friend, one last time through the memories they shared together.
Crafted for Stubhub and Within, this piece featured brand new stereo pipelines and finishing, so understanding the new post production workflows and stitching made this an incredible story in-and-out of VR.
You can watch Always on Within via the app or on WebVR here.
24 Legacy: The Raid
Experience the 360° Prequel to 24: Legacy as you join Special Forces soldiers on an intense mission – get in, get the target, and get out.
The Raid was produced by 24: Legacy executive producer Howard Gordon (Homeland, 24: Live Another Day), in partnership with Here Be Dragons, and is exclusively streaming on Samsung VR.
The technical design of this piece was incredibly well-choreographed by director Henry-Alex Rubin, Technical Director Justin Denton, and Technical Producer Joe Chen. On-set for this piece, we learned more than our fair share of spacial dynamics, motion-control camera finesse, and dual-scene editorial tension. I'd claim it as one of the best stereo VR films ever made.
You can watch it in SamsungVR or Web browser found here.