MPC VR Takes The Chainsmokers on a Magical Journey for Sony’s Lost In Music Experience

Sony is on a mission to challenge music fans to rethink reality and get “Lost In Music.” Lost In Music is a brand campaign that will deliver new music experience to fans utilizing Sony’s suite of latest technologies. Lost In Music started with a immersive music experience, featuring a performance by The Chainsmokers. MPC VR was tapped by the creative agency of this project, Ralph, to create a theatrical VR experience inspired by the group’s single, ‘Roses.’ The event took place in Los Angeles on Friday, January 13^th at the LA Hangar Studios.

The studio’s VR team was given a simple creative brief: “Ralph gave us the starting concept of ‘winter’ into ‘summer,’ and this pivot point became our main theme,” explains Creative Director Rob Petrie. “We wanted to create a unique and visually rich world. Working in game engine allowed us to bring a sense of magic like you’re really there.”

The VR experience, which sits at the center of the live immersive event, takes viewers on a voyage through an other-worldly universe in which settings, lighting, color palettes and moods change as the seasons shift. The journey begins with the event-goer rising through a cold and barren landscape, peering over the edge of the rock ledge they’re seated on. Then wham! They’re teleported into a rich summer scene, where they encounter some magical beings.

“This theatrical experience for Sony and The Chainsmokers is a great combination of cutting edge VR, running in real-time for maximum ‘presence,’ with a hyper-real musical experience, all taking place in the real world,” says Tim Dillon, Head of VR & Immersive Content at MPC.

“We had a great time working with Ralph (agency) and Sony on this experience” Dillon added. “This is exactly the type of content we’re looking to create, as it brings VR directly to the audience as part of a technology-enabled event, crafted in a magical setting.”

The production of the Lost In Music VR experience saw MPC push both creative and technical boundaries, with Lead Artist Butch Belair building the VR environment while working within the VR space itself. “Butch’s work assembling most of the winter set inside of Unreal Engine's VR Edit mode is a first for us,” says Andrew Weidenhammer, VR Creative Technologist for MPC. “It allowed us to judge scale, distance and stereo visual impact in a more immediate way, with less iteration time.”

MPC VR is the immersive content division of MPC (Moving Picture Company). To date MPC VR has teamed with several artists to interpret their musical vision in Virtual Reality, most recently working with Sony Music and Ultra Records artist Kygo for the VR experience “Carry Me,” which is available on the PlayStation VR Platform, Oculus Rift and Vive platforms. MPC VR also created music VR experiences for OneRepublic and Pentatonix.