This Live Action Horror Film Is Like Nothing You’ve Seen Before

So, what does it take to deliver a truly unique, immersive experience to the masses?

The product of a groundbreaking team-up between Uproxx In Theory animators, Optical Animal, and musician Sweater Beats, The Shadow is an animated horror short that has all the ingredients of a killer flick: an unsuspecting victim, stunning visuals, and a kick-ass soundtrack.

Creating the film required a huge and multi-faceted effort. Teams were stationed on both the east and west coast, communicating every step of the way over the course of a month. For Optical Animal, that work required the construction of a template in Brooklyn that would allow them to project the animation that the In Theory team was working on in LA (with Sweater Beats on hand to add the pre-programmed elements of the live score) onto a nine story building while using multiple projectors. This complex process was made more efficient thanks to the use of Falcon TLX and DRX Laptops with Intel® Core™ i7 processors featuring Intel® Optane™ memory that were provided by Intel.

Uproxx

No detail was spared (check out the foreboding messages written in the digital graffiti projected onto the wall) and the combination of eerie live music, startling animation, and a live actor’s fearful reactions got LA crowds to take notice.

A project as elaborate as The Shadow isn’t the kind of thing most people expect to pop up in front of them. The response from the assembled spectators makes that clear, but even the pros were awed. Israel, the live action performer at the heart of the film, told Uproxx that this project “is different from anything I’ve ever done before.”

To see what went into The Shadow live premiere in downtown LA, check out the video above. Then visit our CRE8: Live The Process series to find out more about the creation of this immersive live experience.

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