Leading up to the release of the Warcraft movie, Legendary Pictures has released an immersive movie trailer that gives you a 360 degree aerial view of Stormwind, one of the capital cities of the land of Azeroth.
Created by developer Blizzard, the Warcraft franchise began as a series of real-time strategy games, but really hit its mainstream stride with the release of the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game, World of Warcraft (2004), where players adventure throughout the lore-rich world of Azeroth.
A film adaptation set in the Warcraft universe has been in development in some form or another as far back as 2006 when Blizzard and Legendary pictures announced the project. But now it would seem that production has hit the next gear, with the film recently getting a release date of June 10th, 2016.
Blizzard and Legendary Pictures, (the latter no stranger to VR) are leveraging virtual reality to promote the film. The movie’s first teaser has been released and it’s an immersive 360 degree experience created by Industrial Light & Magic’s newfound ‘ILMxLab’. The 360 degree teaser can be viewed on standard desktops through YouTube’s 360 video player (embedded above) or in VR on Android using a VR viewer like Google Cardboard through the YouTube app or the Legendary VR app.
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Inside the experience, you’re atop a gryphon, soaring over Stormwind, one of Azeroth’s capital cities. You can look around in any direction to explore a bird’s-eye-view of the insanely detailed city layout.
Down below you can make out various districts separated by canals spanned by arched foot bridges. Tiny as they may be, you can see individual denizens walking about on the streets below. Each district is adorned with dense buildings and the occasional foliage or statue. On the right is a hillside littered with houses, quickly succumbing to a massive, spired cathedral.
If you fancy a glance behind you, you’ll find an incredible mountain vista blanketed by a lush forest that sharply meets the city limits. Looking forward again, you’ll find Stormwind Keep lording over the city, set against the ocean. Down and to the left of the Keep is a bustling harbor where sea birds circle the masts of vessels delivering the day’s catch.
This is the beauty of VR—a scene so rich and yet subtle at the same time cannot be confined to the simple frame of traditional media. This space is so expansive and its intricacies so elusive that it’s best experienced as though you’re actually there, looking around at what interests you—not through pre-defined camera angles.
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This impressive immersive trailer is a stepping stone not only for the audience—who will need a gentle introduction to VR before jumping into a feature-length VR film—but also for the content creators who are using smaller productions like this to experiment with what works best in virtual reality media. Here’s to hopping we’ll see more content like this to come from high-end productions, eventually culminating in blockbuster made-for-VR films and experiences.