Mylings VR

In 2021, film director Uta Arning asked me to help develop a location-based Horror VR Experience and a short UE-5 based cinematic teaser to present the concept. Coming from an NYU Tisch School of the Arts background and a history of arthouse cinematography, Uta was joined by filmmaker, film-critic and social sciences researcher Aurite Kouts to develop the IP-based on a Swedish folk legend. As the folk horror genre is booming, the project was able to gain attention and support. Thanks to the team’s presentation, which included my finalized look development, design work and cinematic teaser, it was possible to secure the first round of funding from the Moin Development fund for a production in the city of Hamburg.

The story revolves around ghosts of abandoned children in a haunted northern forest attacking visitors and the links to an occult group. The IP comes with a strong feminist message.

To develop the material, I started out with mood boards and folk horror research on the topic, to come up with a basic look for the teaser. Together with Uta and Aurite, we decided on the storytelling assets to be featured in the material and started to prioritize the material and planned the production roadmap. The design of the Mylings girl went through numerous iterations. To build the environment, I tested a number of Unreal forest assets and ended up with a mix including the Quixel trees which lets you assign the required autumn season. The entire shot was keyframed with the Unreal sequencer and an in-game camera rig. Over the following months, the concept was shopped around via Uta’s and Aurite’s roadshow, where I occasionally joined to give my input on the future roadmap, especially regarding Unreal and Metahuman integration. After the wrap-up of pre-production and teaser development, the main production is expected to start in 2023.

Uta Arning
Director, Producer, Writer
http://utaarning.com/

Innovative formats funding
Moin Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein
https://www.moin-filmfoerderung.de/de/