Christopher Nolan‘s craftsmanship hit theaters with his much-anticipated Dunkirk movie, a heartbreaking film that carries the Allies courage in front of the German army. Based on real-life events that happened between May 26 – June 4, 1940, the movie depicts Operation Dynamo rescue mission, during which the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) that remained isolated in the French port was miraculously saved from the Nazi troops. Although it represents one of the history’s greatest events, it remains unknown for many people around the world.
Through his cinematic masterpiece, the famous director of other well-known films like The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception (2010), or Interstellar (2014) among others, embarked on a historical journey to shed some light on the unusual WWII event that occurred on sea, land, and air.
Nolan’s goal to tell the remarkable story to a broader audience was completed by Warner Bros’ partnership with Twitter and global digital agency Jam3, which developed a digital website in order to highlight what happened during those horrible days. The aim of the “Unlock Dunkirk Movie” campaign is to celebrate not just the work of the London-based director, but also to give people the chance to see how the heroes never gave up their hope during the terrible moments of 9 Days of Dunkirk. And the web-based motion experience with a live dynamic data visualization and timeline of the battle does exactly that.
A Dunkirk-inspired timeline, placed at the bottom of the web page, allows users to track the evacuation of the 400,000 soldiers in real time. An interactive chart reveals the intensity of the action gradually and unfolds some interesting facts you may not have heard of, whilst sound and innovative motion design by Jam3 give a more dramatic note to the experience.
The campaign provides an interesting catch as well – the images are visible from the beginning. Users are encouraged to tweet the hashtag #Dunkirk in order to unlock the exclusive content. The online site indexes all the references and, as the number of tweets reaches a certain target, some 16-second-long VR spots are revealed to the public. The campaign’s climax culminates with the film’s amazing trailer.
Zoo at Google in partnership with the Toronto-based production company. Together, they crafted a WebVR game for Chrome.
Also, a 360-degree tour titled “Save Every Breath: The Dunkirk VR Experience,” makes the war experience even more disturbing since it leaves viewers in the middle of the battle as imagined by the English director. The digital platform offers you many possibilities to be part of the intense events that took place in the northern France.
The thriller’s clever teaser represents only a small part of what makes up the entire historical film. With the movie still running in cinemas, anyone can get a more detailed version of the events and find out how the story ends.