After its announcement nearly a year ago, the much anticipated illustrative VR narrative from Oculus Story Studio, Dear Angelica, finally makes its way onto the Oculus Store. It stars Geena Davis and Mae Witman and it’s out now for free on the Rift.
Oculus Story Studio was set up with the remit to explore what was possible in the newly emerging medium of virtual reality storytelling. As such, the studio has up to now produced two VR films, each markedly different in look and feel from the last. Whilst Henry was a bright, colourful tale of a Hedgehog searching for friendship, Lost was a more muted affair, reminiscent of early 80s Spielberg.
So it continues with Dear Angelica, a new story which takes a drastically different visual approach from either of its forebears. The film is directed by Saschka Unseld who also fills the role of Creative Director at OSS. It tells the story of Jessica, played by Mae Whitman through animated illustrations representing memories of her late mother – the titular Angelica, played by Geena Davis.
The unique look comes from the way it was constructed, painted entirely inside virtual reality. Artist Wesley Allsbrook created the look and feel of Dear Angelica‘s world inside Oculus’ VR paint application Quill, creating painterly visuals which, upon glancing at screenshots look entirely two dimensional, but come to life inside VR.
You can grab Dear Angelica from the Oculus Store right now for free.
