David Farnor | On 22, Apr 2016

YouTube and Justin Lin have teamed up to release a 360-degree film.

Called Help, the movie takes place in the middle of downtown Los Angeles, where a meteor shower has left a deep scar on the streets of Chinatown. Panic, fear and an alien sends a young woman scrambling to escape.

The 360-degree format is designed to immerse viewers in the story, with Android users able to watch the short in full 360 using the YouTube app. iOS users, meanwhile, can get the full effect with the Google Spotlight Stories app.

Spotlight Stories is the name of the new format that YouTube has been developing for some time.

Using the sensors on your phone – the gyroscope and accelerometer – the interactive nature of the video allows viewers to move their phone during each scene, potentially unlocking mini-stories and alternate narratives. Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group have developed several of these, but Help marks the first live-action video to be given the Spotlight treatment – a step closer to realising the industry’s end goal of virtual reality streaming. Indeed, YouTube is pushing its new platform heavily, choosing high-profile partners to produce Spotlight Stories with; their last video was a seasonal animated outing released at Christmas in collaboration with Aardman.

Watch the video here:

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