Hammer & Anvil to Launch Immersive VR Film Unearthing
Hammer & Anvil, the immersive-media studio recognised for developing virtual-reality productions for museums, has confirmed the forthcoming release of Unearthing, a new VR film that extends the company’s commitment to educational storytelling. The production blends cinematic 360-degree video, spatial audio, and high-fidelity animation to transport audiences into the day-to-day reality of palaeontological fieldwork and laboratory investigation.
The 30-minute experience places viewers alongside two established palaeontologists as they pursue fossils in contrasting terrains. Footage recorded on location shows the scientists working in the arid expanse of the Utah desert before shifting to the windswept cliffs lining Chesapeake Bay. In each environment, the specialists confront practical challenges, including extreme heat, unstable rock faces, and continual coastal erosion, while racing to secure specimens that might otherwise be lost.
To enrich the narrative, detailed animated sequences reconstruct the Late Jurassic ecosystem in which the recovered creatures once thrived. Allosaurus stalks prey across fern-covered floodplains, while pterosaurs sweep overhead on thermals rising from an inland sea. By stitching these reconstructions seamlessly into the live-action footage, the film aims to deepen visitors’ understanding of the scientific process that links a fragment of bone to a fuller picture of prehistoric life. The spatial-audio mix positions sounds around the headset wearer, enhancing the illusion of standing within each scene.
Hammer & Anvil views Unearthing as an embodiment of its long-stated mission to turn museum galleries into gateways through space and time. The studio was founded to pair professional filmmaking with robust educational content, ensuring that learning remains engaging without sacrificing accuracy. According to the production team, VR allows audiences to form a personal connection with subject matter that conventional text panels, static models, and two-dimensional films often struggle to provoke. By situating visitors shoulder-to-shoulder with researchers and allowing them to inspect dig sites from within, the film is designed to create a sense of participation rather than observation.
Delivery to institutions will be handled through Hammer & Anvil’s Advanced Learning Immersive Cinema Experience (ALICE), a turnkey VR theatre system now installed in a number of regional and national museums. ALICE is modular, enabling venues with as little as 90 square metres of available space to accommodate screenings for five participants, while larger sites can scale the arrangement to more than 100 seats. The package provides headsets, content-management software, staff training, and remote technical support. Aside from a standard internet connection, no specialised infrastructure is required, a feature the company says removes the technical and financial barriers that have historically discouraged smaller museums from adopting immersive technologies.
The new film will be made available to existing ALICE partners upon launch and to additional institutions under a licensing model. Hammer & Anvil expects Unearthing to become part of rotating seasonal programming, allowing museums to refresh their visitor offer without undertaking costly gallery refits. Feedback collected during closed-door preview sessions indicates that educators see particular value in pairing the VR experience with tangible fossil displays and hands-on workshops, creating a coherent learning pathway from virtual exploration to real-world artefacts.
While final mastering of Unearthing proceeds, the studio has already initiated pre-production on its next project, which will shift focus from Earth’s ancient past to the frontiers of exoplanetary science. Early concept material suggests that viewers will embark on a simulated voyage beyond the Solar System to examine newly discovered worlds and assess their potential for habitability. The forthcoming title is expected to employ the same combination of live-action footage, scientifically grounded visualisations and interactive sound design that characterises Unearthing.
Hammer & Anvil’s evolving catalogue reflects a broader trend within the museum sector, where curators are seeking innovative ways to engage audiences accustomed to high-quality digital media. By packaging complex scientific topics within compelling narratives and delivering them through accessible hardware, the studio positions itself at the intersection of entertainment and education. With Unearthing set to debut in the coming months, both the company and its partner institutions anticipate renewed interest from visitors eager to step, virtually, into the field and experience the thrill of discovery for themselves.
