Wizard of Oz / Warner Bros.
Immersive Web Experience
The 1939 fantasy film The Wizard of Oz is an established favorite on lists of the greatest movies of all time. For the 80th anniversary of the film, Warner Bros. newly scanned the original negatives in 8k resolution and digitally restored the picture for release on 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray.
To celebrate the release, and as the inaugural experience marking the launch of Experience WB, Warner Bros. asked our team to create an immersive execution that would use advanced image recognition to launch from The Wizard of Oz DVDs and Blu-Rays.
To celebrate the release, and as the inaugural experience marking the launch of Experience WB, Warner Bros. asked our team to create an immersive execution that would use advanced image recognition to launch from The Wizard of Oz DVDs and Blu-Rays.
Unlocking Oz and the Twister
After users scanned their packaging or image trigger, we prepared to whisk them away like Dorothy and pay homage to the original film's striking transition from sepia-toned Kansas to Technicolor Oz.
Unlocking Oz and the Twister
After users scanned their packaging or image trigger, we prepared to whisk them away like Dorothy and pay homage to the original film's striking transition from sepia-toned Kansas to Technicolor Oz.
First, we created a custom post-processing shader that would let us dynamically cross-fade between full-color and sepia output. This let us slowly desaturate the user's actual environment.
Next, we rendered a 360° video of a whirling tornado kicking up around the user. A chroma key, or "green-screen" shader allowed us to draw this tornado (along with the cackling Wicked Witch of the West) over the user's environment to complete the effect.
Over the Rainbow
To capture Oz, our team hand-made a custom 360° panosphere, taking care to imitate the painted style of the original Oz backdrops and using footage from the new high-resolution digital film restoration as our guide.
The entire scene also played host to trailers and rarely collected behind the scenes photos. The project and process was great fun for our team and it was an honor being able to help celebrate such a significant icon of American and international popular culture.
You can try out the archived experience here.