jaunt vr trailer preview virtual reality cinema

Jaunt has been busy shooting several made-for-VR experiences which the company says will be released for VR in trailer form “imminently.” Road to VR has the first look at three of Jaunt’s forthcoming cinematic VR experiences.

Jaunt is working to create a production platform for virtual reality films. To prove out their toolset, they’ve also begun producing content in partnership with New Deal Studios who have worked on major films like Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Watchmen, Inception, and recently, Interstellar.

jaunt vr trailers oculus rift dk2
Scott Broock (left) drops me into the three forthcoming trailers.

Jaunt and New Deal Studios are working on three distinct VR cinema projects. The Mission, a WWII themed piece, Kaiju Fury, a throwback to the era of scale models and giant monsters invading cities, and Black Mass, a horror film where the viewer watches terror unfold from the perspective of someone who’s been abducted.

Scott Broock, VP of Content at Jaunt, told me that trailers for these three short films will be released “imminently” to the public. From what I gather, it seems that they’ll be made available at first for download and playback on the Oculus Rift DK2 and also released through an Android app for use in Cardboard and other smartphone adapters. Jaunt stresses that they want to be “platform agnostic,” and get their content to as many VR devices as possible.

But before then, Road to VR has the first glimpse and we’re bringing it straight to you.

Kaiju Fury

From what I saw of Kaiju Fury, it’s my favorite of the three. Jaunt and New Deal Studios have put together a great homage to the Godzilla era of monster films, with a completely real scale model set and some wild monster costumes. With the camera placed low to the ground within the model city, the monsters look massive and menacing, and the set looks… well… real, because it is. Broock told me that the trick in Kaiju Fury was to slow the monster footage down by about 10% to create a sense of weight in what is ostensibly a massive creature.

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The Mission

The Mission has you embedded with a squad of paratroopers who have to improvise when things don’t go as planned. You’ll see guns, tanks, Germans, and plenty more.

See Also: On the Set of ‘The Mission VR,’ A WWII Short Film Shot for Virtual Reality

Black Mass

Black Mass is a horror film where the user becomes part of the action. From the perspective of someone who’s been abducted, you’ll find your abductees throwing a black veil over your head as you are transported between increasingly freakish scenes.

See Also: Exclusive Sneak Peek at Black Mass, A VR Horror Short By the Director of Paranormal Activity 5

Each of these short films is expected to clock in under 10 minutes. The release date of the full cuts has not yet been announced.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • cly3d

    Great stuff. Extremely valuable insights from downloading these few seconds of footage and studying.
    It’s interesting to learn that the First person horror movie for instance, does not have a rigged / meathook avatar body.

    Was the experience just as immersive with a cropped nadir? Hoping Jaunt makes a few seconds available for download soon

    • brandon9271

      it would be cool if you could see you own body super imposed via a camera mounted on the Rift. I know the Leap Motion is capable of this to some degree.

  • Don Gateley

    This!

  • cly3d

    in the interest of learning…i’ve uploaded a pdf of observations based on the youtube clips.
    http://realvision.ae/blog/2014/11/cinematic-vr-production-constructive-critique-paper/