Meet a menagerie of curious critters in Micro Monsters, a new VR documentary from Alchemy Immersive and living legend David Attenborough. The five-part series is a continuation of Attenborough’s original production of Micro Monsters, which debuted in 2013 and pioneered macroscopic filming to give audiences a never-before-seen view of Earth’s mightiest insects. Micro Monsters in VR explores the real-life superpowers of arthropods from a perspective only immersive media can deliver.
Alchemy Immersive, in partnership with Oculus from Facebook, produced Micro Monsters using specially developed 3D stereoscopic camera rigs, 180° live-action capture, and newly developed VFX compositing techniques. Audiences will see all of our tiny neighbors’ minutia and alien-like detail through an incredibly high frame rate (60fps) and spatial sound design.
Over five episodes, viewers will explore a near-invisible world of conflict and community that’s both mesmerizing and monstrous. Watch a scorpion and a centipede fight to the death, an aphid cloning itself, and an army of green ants building incredible structures. Avoid the ambush of a Trapdoor spider and experience the Portia spider’s deadly lullaby. With the aid of live-action close-ups and computer graphics, audiences can even watch a caterpillar’s transformation from inside its cocoon and discover a beetle’s secret chemical weapon.
We spoke with Director of Micro Monsters and Creative Lead at Alchemy Immersive Elliot Graves and Oculus Immersive Media Lead Eric Cheng to hear more about Micro Monsters and get an inside peek at the production.