SNTIENT: Building a Storytelling Journey with Virtual Production

How a UKRI-funded proof of concept turned a single story into a film, a mixed reality experience and a virtual reality journey, all shot on one stage in central London.

The project

SNTIENT is a cross-media science-fiction storytelling platform that merges film, mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR) into a single interactive narrative universe. Its goal is to move brands beyond static campaigns and into living, breathing worlds, where audiences step inside the narrative rather than just watch it.

Beginning as a UKRI-funded proof of concept developed by the Fashion Innovation Agency in partnership with Target3D and Dandelion + Burdock, it explores transmedia storytelling as a new model for immersive brand experience, and asks how a single narrative can be told simultaneously across formats.

The platform was built by Matthew Drinkwater (Fashion Innovation Agency), Moin Roberts-Islam, Niall Thompson (Dandelion + Burdock) and Dickon Knowles.

"SNTIENT is built for the future of entertainment. We are pushing the boundaries of how stories are told and experienced, making them more compelling and interactive than ever before."

Matthew Drinkwater

The story

SNTIENT is set in a near-future sci-fi universe, "MegaDistrict 4", where left behind service and military droids awaken and gain sentience. Rather than turning to conflict, they choose art, fashion (with costumes designed by Christopher Raeburn) and expression.

The latest stage of the project was shot in our virtual production and volumetric capture studio. Every element was captured and then rebuilt for three distinct formats:

A cinematic film to be watched

A mixed reality experience layering digital content onto the physical world, to be entered

A fully immersive VR journey to be inhabited

The production was conceived from the outset to exist across all three forms.

Our role

Target3D’s two studios were utilised for the project. SNTIENT uses virtual production on an LED volume with a massive custom-built set, which lets environments, cameras and live actors react to each other in real time. Alongside it, the pipeline combined volumetric capture, markerless motion capture, generative AI and gaussian splatting, all running through Unreal Engine for rapid iteration, procedural environments and cross-platform delivery.

Target3D also played a significant part in developing the production with the FIA and Dandelion + Burdock teams, focusing on design engineering rather than creative direction.

The core challenge was reconciling three very different demands - cinematic pacing, spatial navigation and full immersion - in one coherent world. That meant months of technical development and many meetings to ensure the vision would work. Regular calls helped flesh out the approach, and demo days in the studio let the team test ideas in the space before committing to them.

The space itself mattered.

A Central London location meant easy for cast, crew and collaborators to reach, and our multi-use building was flexible enough to adapt to the production's needs.

One important component was street-level access. The studio opens directly onto the street, and is big enough to drive a car straight through. Rather than building elsewhere and shipping elements in, the team built the set right there, in front of the LED screen.

Capturing the scene volumetrically in the same space meant physical set, performers and virtual environment could all be developed together.

What's next

The next phase moves into research led user testing, measuring how audiences respond, cognitively and emotionally, to a story told this way.

Explore new possibilities

Planning a project that blends physical and virtual worlds? Get in touch to talk about what virtual production and volumetric capture could do for your story.