Min Kwak
[Episode 3: Omaha]
Red Summers: The Guardian VR
Built for webVR, mobileVR, and any VR headsets (2021).
Red Summers is a collection of 360 VR animated and live-action documentaries about racially motivated, domestic terrorism attacks on Black communities in the United States between 1917 and 1921.
In these Virtual Reality films, audience experience the vivid amalgamation of each location’s current 360 view and historical archival scenes like they are actually existing in those sites of tragedy.
These VR films were published by The Guardian, the world renowned British Media. Started with the artwork to commemorate Tulsa’s race massacre happened 100 years ago, 5 films are about the past racial violence happened at 5 different locations.
My Role : Lead 3D Graphic & Animation Artist
Team :
A Film by Bayeté Ross Smith
Executive Producer for Black Public Media (BPM) : Lisa Osborne
Producer : John MacFarlane
Associate 3D Graphics Artist : George Trimmings III
Sound Design : Carlos Johns-Dávila
Post Production Consultant and Producer : Tim Chaffee
Archival Photograph Retouching & Post Production : Mallika Vora, Karolina Lajch, Sufee Yama
Project Manager: Nyla Daniel
Tools : Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects, Insta360 Stitcher
Mobile Experience
Sponsored by:
[Episode 4: Chicago and Washington DC]
[Episode 1: Tulsa]
[Episode 2: Elaine]
Methodology & Significance
Using contemporary 360 imagery with overlaid historical images delivered by dynamic illustration and animation, this series of VR documentaries will examine the lack of legal accountability and how these events relate to the current challenges in the U.S.A. regarding social justice, racial justice, and human rights.
Red Summers VR Series :
Tulsa race massacre at 100: an act of terrorism America tried to forget (YouTube VR)
Elaine massacre: how a Black labor movement was met with a violent white mob (YouTube VR)
Omaha: How a white mob lynched a Black man, destroyed a city – and got away with it (YouTube VR)
Chicago and Washington DC: How racist propaganda inspired riots in America's biggest cities (YouTube VR)
East St. Louis: How the East St Louis race massacre was an omen for racial violence to come (YouTube VR)
[Episode 5: East St. Louis]