A groundbreaking short film is set to formally debut at the Sundance Film Festival and on Oculus Rift headsets on Friday. The motion picture, titled Dear Angelica, clocks in at a runtime of 12 minutes. It was developed by the Oculus Story Studio, a branch of the virtual reality production company dedicated to more cinematic creations. The unique quality of this film is that it is the first to be drawn wholly within the virtual reality framework. The creators originally intended to draw the frames outside the context of virtual reality (VR) and then transfer them to the program.

A 2015 meeting reviewing the project invigorated them to change their method when Oculus Story Studio Visual Effects Supervisor Inigo Quillez commented, “This looks like garbage. If we’re making a VR movie, then the content should be in VR as well.”

In addition to prompting a large-scale change in animation method, Quillez also developed a tool to help the staff along their way. He invented the “quill” which allows animators to draw complex images while wearing a virtual reality headset. The quill is one of the first tools developed specifically for the VR medium and also had a great impact on the way the film looks, stylistically.

For instance, the images in “Dear Angelica” are created stroke by stroke which is evident in the detailed look of the end product. This movie is a landmark in the evolution of both virtual reality, cinema, and animation. Translating film to VR allows the viewer to have a more immersive and intimate connection to the story. VR as a medium allows artists to explore new and more interactive means of reaching their audience.

Actress, Geena Davis, had a preview of the film and expresses a sentiment that will likely shared by many viewers: “I was crying, and so moved by it.