The Dark Knight Dive

In 2019, to celebrate Batman's 80th anniversary, fans at Comic-Con would be transported to Gotham City like never before. The Dark Knight Dive combined a 360-degree virtual reality journey with the physical thrill of an actual skydiving wind tunnel — you didn't just watch Batman fly over Gotham, you flew.

The concept only works if Gotham holds up in every direction at once. So the job was a complete virtual recreation of the city — the shadowy streets, the iconic landmarks — convincing enough to soar through with wind in your face, plus a physical set to match.

I led our production of the full 360-degree recreation of Gotham City for the VR experience — a virtual world that dropped fans into the streets and skyline of Batman's home. We also crafted visual assets for the physical set design surrounding the tunnel.

We had seven weeks. On that accelerated timeline we designed and animated the entire virtual world, building the environment specifically for the wind tunnel format, where the viewer hangs mid-air and looks everywhere. Every street and landmark had to read from any angle.

The activation captivated fans, drew massive media attention, and won a Gold Clio Award for its approach to fan engagement. Not bad for seven weeks.