Legendary partners with Microsoft HoloLens to connect fans with their favorite characters
Legendary operates on the cutting-edge of technology in the movie industry, always looking for new ways that technology can help push the bounds of storytelling. They relentlessly knock down the barriers between stories, characters, and the people who love their movies. In the increasingly competitive world of branded entertainment, companies are looking for ways to make their content stand out and be noticed.
“Microsoft HoloLens lets us bring characters from the worlds we create into the real world,” says Emily Castel, Chief Marketing Officer at Legendary. “Our fans get to interact and have fun with our characters in a completely new way, giving them a unique experience they can share with their friends through video and social media. This is exciting for us, and for the creators we work with.”
HoloLens gives storytellers a new medium to tell stories, develop richer characters, and delight people. With HoloLens, there is no longer the boundary of the screen between fans and the content they love. Characters can jump off the screen and into the living room – giving every fan the chance to direct and star alongside them in their own mixed reality movies.
Created and shared by fans, mixed reality movies have the potential to be the compelling, personalized content that appeals to social media audiences. This gives any entertainment company the chance to be part of the future of storytelling, reaching new fans and engaging existing ones in a more personal way.
Whether animation or actors, characters can come to life as holograms
With HoloLens, creators now have more than one way to make holograms, whether characters are played by actors or are CG-based. To capture actors and real objects as holograms, we use a holographic video capture studio. We record the actors using dozens of synchronized RGB and infrared cameras on a calibrated green-screen stage. We are able to capture the motion, shape, and appearance of the performer, producing something like video but viewable from any angle, at any moment of recording. Life-sized holograms of CG-created characters can also be made using 3D data.
The result
The real magic is when fans get to see and interact with their favorite characters off the screen and in the real world. At the Hollywood premiere of Warcraft, fans got to meet Orgrim Doomhammer as a hologram on Microsoft HoloLens.
Holographic entertainment and experiences are driving a new pipeline for creativity and engagement, and we’re excited to work with partners like Legendary to be part of the future of storytelling.
And of course, if you ever have any questions or feedback, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @KudoTsunoda.
Kudo Tsunoda
Source: Legendary partners with Microsoft HoloLens to connect fans with their favorite characters
