PARK CITY, Utah -- The Sundance Film Festival is fast becoming the event of record for narrative storytelling in virtual reality, with some 30 installations -- more than double last year's total -- at its curated New Frontiers section alone. But the really next-level stuff, from a small handful of VR content innovators, is not yet available to the public, and can only be seen via private condos and mobile demo teams around this ski resort town.
A standout among them is Allumette, the latest creation of Penrose Studios, a small startup comprised of Oculus Rift, DreamWorks and Pixar alumni including Eugene Chung, founder and CEO, who was previously Head of Film & Media at Oculus VR.
At the Park City residence where the Penrose team is staying through the fest, Mashable got a sneak peek this week at Allumette, the story of a little girl who comes to possess a handful of magical matchstick wands in a Venice-like city that floats among the clouds.
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/20160125_Allumett_still04.jpg" caption="A scene from "Allumette"" credit="Penrose Studios" alt="20160125_Allumett_still04"]
The narrative (which the company describes as "love, sacrifice and an infinite bond between an orphan and her mother") does not entirely reveal itself in the roughly six-minute demo, but will once it expands to the planned 20-minute feature -- much longer than the average VR movie.
Also unique to Allumette is the incorporation of a controller, which puts one of the magic matchsticks in your hand. Though hand-controls are common in VR gaming (obviously) and experiential modes, this is the first narrative to use the added feature.
Allumette herself is as tiny as a doll -- though you can scale her up by walking the headset up close, from a standing position, she looks a bit like one of the stop-motion characters from a Laika Studios film (Caroline, Paranorman, The Boxtrolls).
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/allumette.full_.poster.jpg" caption=""Allumette."" credit="Penrose Studios" alt="allumette.full.poster"]
As you move about the space you can explore the city's stone bridge, its buildings and other features up close; at one point a flying ship comes onto the scene, and as Allumette boards it, you can plunge the headset into its clock-like innerworkings for a look around.
Chung preaches "presence" in his company's creations -- the idea that, deep down, as you're having the experience, you should feel that the objects are truly in front of you. To his credit, there is an incredible temptation to reach out and touch the objects and characters; the only thing that stopped me from trying was that I didn't want to look silly in front of the other people in the room.
Chung directed and produced Allumette, which will be available for consumers later this year on several VR platforms, including the Oculus Rift, Sony PlayStation VR and HTC Vive.
Allumette is actually Penrose's second VR feature; the first, also an animated CG feature called The Rose and I, was part of the New Frontiers section at Sundance this year and debuted at Tribeca Film Festival in 2015. Interestingly enough, as Allumette is being billed as a VR "film," Penrose has created movie-like posters, right down to the aspect ratio and font, to help promote it (see above and below).
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Penrose_Allumette_poster_cloud.jpg" caption="The poster for "Allumette."" credit="Penrose Studios" alt="Penrose_Allumette_poster_cloud"]
As of now, distribution for Allumette -- and other "VR films" is still being worked out, as the business models have not completely emerged yet. But expect that to change by the time Sundance rolls around again next year, and likely with twice as many VR installations as the year before.