The virtual reality (VR) short animated film titled Age of Sail is making its debut at the Venice International Film Festival this week and to mark the event a new trailer has been released. The ambitious short film project is a part of the Google Spotlight Stories, who are bringing it to the event, and is directed by Academy Award winner John Kahrs.
Age of Sail tells the story of William Avery (voiced by Ian McShane), an old sailor adrift and alone in the North Atlantic in the 1900’s. When Avery reluctantly rescues a teenage girl (Cathy Ang) who has mysteriously fallen overboard, Avery finds redemption and hope in his darkest hours. The film will offer a completely immersive experience with full 360-degree filed of view along with having a running time of around 10-12 minutes in length.
The most recently project to come out of the Google Spotlight Stories unit, the film is the most ambitious to date with a great level of detail to be found throughout the film. Speaking at a panel at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Kahrs explained: “I wanted this piece to operate in a less stylized universe, because the audience should believe the world is real – to feel the peril and the exhilaration of being in a storm, to be vulnerable.”
With a unique art style and the immersive power of VR, Age of Sail is set to give viewers a front-row sit on an emotional and interesting tale that will see a lost sailor make a return all thanks to a teenage girl. Those are the Venice International Film Festival will be able to catch the film during the event with there be no word on a release outside of the event just yet.
The Venice International Film Festival is currently running until September 8th and is one of the three largest international film festivals around, next to the Cannes International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.
You can see the trailer for Age of Sail for yourself below and for all the latest on the film and Google Spotlight Stories in the future, keep reading VRFocus.
via Mint VR