UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND RYOT PRESENT 'FIRST MAN': VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE, BY CREATEVR
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Oct. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
WHAT: In celebration of
the feature film
FIRST MAN,
Universal
Pictures and
RYOT present the
FIRST MAN:
VIRTUAL REALITY
EXPERIENCE,
which debuts at
select AMC
Theatres lobbies
--in the
Positron
Voyager(R) chair
--in Los
Angeles, San
Francisco, New
York City and
Washington, D.C.
In Universal's
riveting new
drama, FIRST
MAN, astronaut
Neil Armstrong
(Ryan Gosling),
commander of
NASA's Apollo 11
mission,
successfully
breaks the bonds
of Earth to
become the first
person to walk
on the lunar
surface.
Audiences will
now be able to
take that
dangerous,
thrilling
journey in
Armstrong's
place, from NASA
Mission Control,
to the cockpit
of the Apollo 11
as it breaks
through Earth's
atmosphere, to
the moment the
lunar module
lands on the
moon.
EXPERIENCE: RYOT and CreateVR
deployed state-
of-the-art
virtual reality
tech to create
an experience so
real, it's as
close as you can
get to going to
the moon without
leaving Earth.
-- You begin our journey in NASA's
Mission Control, where you can
explore and see exclusive video
of First Man, including
interviews with Oscar-winning
director Damien Chazelle (La La
Land), and stars Ryan Gosling and
Claire Foy about the courage and
daring of the Apollo 11 mission.
-- You are then placed in Armstrong's
shoes -and in his seat -inside
the Apollo 11 Command Module,
seconds before launch. The
interior of the spacecraft is
historically accurate and finely
detailed in the placement and
appearance of every switch, knob,
dial and window.
-- You feel the immense, barely
contained power of the Saturn V
rocket as it lifts you out of
Earth's orbit and into zero-
gravity.
-- Then, you will arrive at Day 4 of
the mission, in lunar orbit, and
will begin the descent to the
surface of the moon.
-- You will pilot the Lunar Module,
The Eagle, next to fellow
astronaut Buzz Aldrin (Corey
Stoll), as you experience,
firsthand, Armstrong's grit,
determination and nerves of steel
as you land safely on the lunar
surface. Both the Earth and the
moon are built to scale, so the
veracity and authenticity of the
experience is as close to reality
as possible.
FIRST MAN is the
latest cinematic
VR theater
experience to
debut on
Voyager(R), the
world's first
full-motion
chair designed
for cinematic
VR, created by
technology
studio Positron.
Voyager(R)
delivers a
completely new
level of
immersion in VR
by providing a
comfortable,
fully integrated
personal VR
theater that
incorporates
motorized
rotation and
pitch motion,
haptic feedback,
volumetric 6DOF
(6 degrees of
freedom),
interactivity,
spatial audio,
premium VR
headsets, and
specialized
seating.
"The FIRST MAN:
VIRTUAL REALITY
EXPERIENCE has
been specially
designed and
customized for
Voyager(R),"
says Positron
CEO Jeffrey
Travis. "The
unique motion
and haptics in
the chair,
combined with a
true volumetric
environment,
recreates an
unmatched,
spine-tingling
experience of
journeying
inside the
Apollo 11 from
take-off to the
first lunar
landing. In
addition, FIRST
MAN is the first
VR experience
for Voyager(R)
that brings 6DOF
(6 degrees of
freedom) and
interactivity to
the Voyager(R)
platform. We
can't wait for
audiences to
experience this
new level of
immersion, and
we are proud to
partner with
Universal on
this historic
project."
For Universal,
this VR
collaboration
was an ideal fit
for First Man.
"The film First
Man is an
immersive
experience in
and of itself,
thanks to the
first-person
POV design by
director Damien
Chazelle," says
Universal
Executive Vice
President of
Creative
Content, Austin
Barker. "So
we're thrilled
to have brought
together real
pioneers in the
VR space to
collaborate on
this experience.
This was both a
fantastic and
obvious
opportunity for
us. This is as
close as most of
us will ever get
to being an
astronaut, if
only for a few
minutes."
In producing the
cinematic
interactive VR
experience, RYOT
achieved
incredible
visual fidelity
- leveraging the
digitally
scanned film in
tandem with the
full-motion
Positron
Voyager(R) chair
to create the
sensation of
sharing a
confined capsule
with another
astronaut. The
Los Angeles-
based immersive
media company
has also been
behind some of
the first-ever
VR films for
outlets like
HuffPost,
Associated Press
and The New York
Times.
"RYOT productions
consistently
place viewers
inside an
experience that
explores the
full depth and
range of the
human journey -
and perhaps no
journey is more
monumental than
that of Neil
Armstrong's,"
says Bryn
Mooser, CEO and
co-founder of
RYOT. "We're
honored to have
played a role in
amplifying
Damien
Chazelle's
desire to place
audiences in
Armstrong's
shoes unlike
anything that's
come before -
and the fact
that we've been
able to simulate
a feeling that
only a handful
of astronauts
have experienced
just stands as
testament to the
limitless
potential VR
storytelling
holds for the
future of
entertainment."
WHERE: Universal Cinema
AMC at CityWalk
Hollywood, Los
Angeles
AMC Metreon 16,
San Francisco
AMC Georgetown
14, Washington,
D.C.
AMC Lincoln
Square, New York
City
WHEN: Friday, October 5
-Sunday,
October 14 in
LA, San
Francisco,
Washington, D.C.
Saturday, October
6 -Sunday,
October 14 in
New York City
Hours vary. Check
with your
participating
theater.
About FIRST MAN
On the heels of their six-time Academy Award(®)-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar(®)-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures' First Man, the riveting story behind the first manned mission to the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the decade leading to the historic Apollo 11 flight. A visceral and intimate account told from Armstrong's perspective, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the film explores the triumphs and the cost--on Armstrong, his family, his colleagues and the nation itself--of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
Written by Academy Award(®) winner Josh Singer (Spotlight, The Post), the epic drama of leading under the pressure of grace and tragedy is produced by Wyck Godfrey & Marty Bowen (The Twilight Saga, The Fault in Our Stars) through their Temple Hill Entertainment banner, alongside Isaac Klausner (Love, Simon) and Chazelle. Steven Spielberg, Adam Merims and Singer executive produce, while DreamWorks Pictures co-finances the film. www.firstman.com
About RYOT
RYOT is Verizon's Emmy Award®-winning, Academy Award®-nominated next generation motion picture studio that combines compelling storytelling with immersive experiences. RYOT has produced a range of feature-length and short-form content in traditional and immersive formats with festival premieres at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, and Hot Docs among others. Highlights include back-to-back Academy Award® nominations for Best Documentary Short. In 2018, RYOT opened a state-of-the-art motion capture studio with the mission to create the new content formats of the future. RYOT'S films can be seen on HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, National Geographic.
About CreateVR
CreateVR is an Emmy Award(®)-nominated immersive entertainment studio. Using virtual reality and cutting-edge technologies, CreateVR builds innovative, cinematic, award-winning experiences for films and brands. CreateVR is a division of Los Angeles-based entertainment marketing agency Create Advertising Group, the award-winning team behind trailers for countless films, television and streaming shows.
About Positron and Voyager(®
)Positron is a VR technology studio based in Los Angeles that is focused on cinematic VR. The team includes mechatronics engineers, designers, software developers and artists who collaborate together to create premium VR experiences and products. Voyager(®) is the first full-motion chair platform designed for cinematic VR. Integrating beautiful design and high-end engineering, it reflects a passion for VR storytelling. Voyager(®) delivers a completely new level of immersion in VR by providing a comfortable, fully integrated personal VR theater that incorporates whisper-quiet robotic rotation and pitch motion, audio-driven haptic feedback, scent dispensing, cabin lighting and specialized seating. Voyager(®) systems also support interactive content. Its unique software and hardware technology integration enables nuanced motion and haptic tracks to be encoded along the featured content's visual and spatial audio tracks. The chair precisely guides the viewers' attention to points of interest in the experience, while also allowing a viewer-controlled motion mode. Voyager(®) units are available now for select theaters, hotels, concerts, and events that desire to provide a premium VR experience.
About Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is part of NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.
FIRST MAN arrives in IMAX(®) and theaters nationwide on Friday, October 12, 2018.
www.firstman.com
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