Step into the world of French illusionist and film director Georges Mélíès in AR, VR, or standard video.
Back to the Moon was first released in 2018 as a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Nexus Studios, Google Spotlight Stories, Google Arts & Culture, Cinématèque Française, and Google Doodles. In addition to being the first ever Doodle to take the form of a 360-degree film, the project was also nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Original Interactive Program category.
With people around the world stuck at home due to the COVID-19 quarantine and desperate for entertainment, Nexus Studios has taken its Emmy-nominated Back to the Moon Doodle and turned it into a free AR experience you can watch directly on your smartphone; making it the first and only Doodle to be available in all possible realities (VR, AR, 2D).
The fully immersive AR experience brings to life a magical world crafted by Georges Méliès, a French illusionist and film director from the early 1900’s, who used techniques such as substitution splices, multiple exposures, and time-lapse photography to tell his stories.
Co-directed by Fx Goby and Hélène Leroux, Back to the Moon transports you into Méliès magical world inspired by some of his most well-known films. The experience honors Méliès unique style of filmmaking, highlighting several of his groundbreaking techniques as well as a cast of wonderful characters that includes an illusionist, an adventurous Queen of Hearts, and a strange evil green man. As if that weren’t enough to get you interested, Back to the Moon also features an original score by composer Mathieu Alvado performed by the legendary London Symphony Orchestra.
Back to the Moon is a beautifully animated experience that pushes the boundaries of AR storytelling. In a behind the scenes video released by Google, Mark Davies, Technical Lead for Nexus Studios, talks about how the most interesting part of the AR film is its interactivity. “The film actually stops and waits for you and we’re having some fun ways coming up with the tricks that lets you seamlessly rejoin the action of the film,” said Davies.
Download Back to the Moon in AR through the free Google Spotlights Stories app on Android or iOS.
Image Credit: Google