tribecafilmfestival2016
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If video killed the radio star, VR slayed it
There's nothing in virtual reality quite as rapturous as exiting Tyler Hurd's "Old Friend" for the first time. The up-tempo, computer-animated experience, backed by up-and-coming VR studio Wevr, is a three-minute long, hyperactive, confetti-filled romp through a neon-hued world of happy clouds, little naked green men (who wouldn't look out of place on the set of The Muppets) and one very determined marching band leader. It's essentially a dance party set to the Future Islands track for which the VR piece is named, and it stars you, the viewer, as a squiggly armed raver. In a way, it does for VR what The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" did for MTV: It defines a whole new genre for a whole new medium. Think of it as the next phase in the evolution of the music video.