DRIVING SCENES VIRTUAL PRODUCTION
Creating compelling driving shots used to be a headache – but virtual production has reinvented the wheel. Adrian Pennington speaks to the pros
I n-camera VFX, a crucial pillar of travel scenes. An ability to swap between locations and times of day on a whim means a project’s vehicle shots can be captured quickly – and all in one go. “There are no weather constraints or requirements to schedule shooting at the end of the day in the desperate hope of shooting a key scene during golden hour: these results are guaranteed in VP,” says Jonathan Davenport, executive producer at October Media. VP allows the director to reset at the click of a button. “If an actor fluffs their line or the director wants to shoot a second take, the vehicle doesn’t need to be taken back to the start location, which saves time and frustration,” says James virtual production, offers a controlled environment for shooting simulated Franklin, VP supervisor at Dimension. Low loaders, the traditional means of car process shots, never quite look correct through the lens. “The vehicle sits too high on the horizon,” Franklin explains, “whereas the content on an LED wall can be adjusted vertically to get the correct horizon line. Content can also be spun 180° to shoot reverses or 90° to shoot side profiles. For city shoots, it's much easier to shoot a 360° plate and take that into a volume, than shut down whole streets for a practical shoot.” Since opening MARS Volume in 2021, the facility has seen a steady stream and increase in productions choosing LED stages over location (low loader) and green-screen shooting to achieve highly realistic driving sequences.
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