xr · 2020
VR The Tide
Dexter Studios × Naver
A VR toon horror film by Dexter Studios based on Naver's webtoon The Tide — six interactive ~5-minute episodes. I worked as a VR artist on episodes 2–6, and the project was officially invited to Sundance 2019's New Frontier.
VR The Tide is a VR toon film made by Dexter Studios based on the original Naver webtoon The Tide (written and illustrated by Seok Jo). Director Tae-Kyung Yoo produced six short, interactive horror films, each running about five minutes.
Storyline
Humanity is suffering the worst drought in history; humans are no longer masters of water. Giant fish, far larger than people, devour humans and ravage cities, and those caught turn into fish zombies. So-Won Moon, a 17-year-old high-school student with a physical disability, survives by tricking his zombified aunt next door into believing he is her dead son.
Visual style & interaction
To avoid the uncanny valley — the unease of seeing human-like digital characters — we kept the cartoon-like feel intact. We also fixed the camera position and let the user only rotate the view, minimizing VR motion sickness.
Process
I joined as a VR artist on episodes 2–6, working across the art pipeline — concept and modeling, texturing and look development, lighting, materials and effects, level optimization, and animated UI.
