VIRTUAL PRODUCTION DRIVING SCENES
IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT In-camera VFX, seen here for Season 2 of Gangs of London, gives extra flexibility in location and daylight
Davenport warns of purely relying on the LED volume and practical lighting to create the look for driving sequences. “We’ve seen the best results achieved when practical SFX are deployed alongside VP,” he says. “It can be as simple as having a car window open with wind FX moving an artist’s hair as they travel in the car, or the use of rain FX striking the windscreen. These additional practical textures enhance the realism of a scene immeasurably.” Elements that productions should pay attention to are: drive-in access for vehicles, size of volume (not too big, not too small: the Goldilocks zone), movable LED walls and a manoeuvrable ceiling that can be raised. Studios like MARS Volume complement this with an agile video playback system that syncs to turntables, camera and lighting fixtures. That’s not to say it’s all plain sailing. Alpe’s advice for DOPs working in this environment is to plan, plan and plan. “Previsualisation is key – knowing where the car needs to be in relation to the screen is important to ensure correct reflection and lighting coverage. We’ve developed a pre-production workflow to support DOPs in this regard. “Ensure you have adequate pre- light time and allow plenty of time for tweaks. This is the opportunity to play with the medium, see how the light and reflections dance over the metallic vehicle, and maximise these features for creative effect,“ she advises. “Keep an eye on the blend zones on camera stitches. As with compositing plates in using traditional VFX pipelines, you have to be careful you don’t capture the blend zones in-camera, in your shots. Working with experienced and astute operators easily overcomes this.” THE ROAD AHEAD Virtual production technology is one of the fastest moving in the industry. So it’s worth asking, where is the tech headed? “We will see archive libraries increase their offerings of driving plates and the generation of plates with period looks,”
Davenport thinks. “This is particularly exciting for filmmakers who are looking to enhance production value and generate scenes with period cars or landscapes in the background of their scenes.” Alpe points to advances that will make ICVFX more accessible, specifically when it comes to environment creation, and ensures that a portion of MARS Volume’s bookable days are set aside for R&D. Recent releases of Unreal Engine have now enabled playback at 16K EXRs in real time. “This increase in resolution looks spectacular on the wall,” says Franklin, “and the increased colour depth means that we can colour correct shots far more accurately, keeping details in both the highlights and shadows.”
THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO play with the medium, SEE HOW LIGHT dances over the vehicle ”
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