360° Experience
Civil War 1864: A Virtual Reality Experience
The American Battlefield Trust asked Wide Awake Films to write and develop a Virtual Reality experience to attract younger audiences and spur an interest in preserving historically important battlefield land.
After A LOT of research and testing, we devised a video game concept that combined live-action footage with visual effects and animated informational text, placing the viewer within an 1864 Civil War battlefield like never before. Civil War 1864 has been a huge success for the American Battlefield Trust, earning more than 39 million views on its YouTube channel alone.
This 360° experience was officially selected as part of Sunny Side of the Doc’s Pixii Festival 2020 in the Virtual Reality category.
Our production team dug a 75-foot trench, employed a team of oxen, and even created snow from thin air. After all that, we threw out the window everything we knew about traditional editing – sequencing clips to create a story – and focused instead on what actions would direct the viewer’s eye to advance the story within the virtual reality space. Then, we added in visual effects like bullet hits, live fire, and cannon shells, along with a full ambisonic sound mix.
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