POST- PRODUCTION | V I RTUAL PRODUCT ION
Furthermore, the screen itself, due to current processing power, has to be low resolution. This means that it constantly has to be kept somewhat out of focus, so as not to break the illusion. “It’s not 4K perfect,” he explains. “It’s actually more like 720p to the naked eye, which is impressive, but not nearly good enough.” Bolter says the technology needs to mature before it can become a viable tool for any number of films and TV shows. “Give it a year or two,” he says. “The graphics cards will improve, the processing power will improve and the pixels on the screens will become smaller, and it’s all just going to get better and better and better.” On looking to the future, Bolter remarks that if you wanted to create an office block for a film, you could go crazy and have a thousand cubicles, “or an infinitely ridiculous, Charlie Kaufman- esque environment, with just one real-build cubicle, where edges of the physical set were blocked to hide the problems.” These physical limitations, however, can’t be matured by advancing tech and are the biggest downside of using virtual production over real-life environments. Bolter says, “If we go back to the desert analogy, in reality, we’d have figure out how to seamlessly blend the studio floor with the screen. This can be done, because in The Mandalorian , the join was protected by sand and rocks, but still, there were certain angles that couldn’t be achieved. Like looking up someone’s nose, for example, you’d see the seam between the wall and ceiling screen, because they’re not joined together. The ceiling screen is really just for lighting.” And actors also don’t have the same freedom of movement on a virtual set, “because if they keep walking, they’ll eventually hit the screen,” he laughs. these limitations in order to use the technology effectively. Treat it as a tool to help you out, but don’t adopt just because The Mandalorian used it (sorry). We Ultimately, it’s important to understand anticipate it being revolutionary for our industry, but if you’re just wanting to use it to shoot a scene on a park bench, then go to a park bench. “Don’t let it become a gimmick,” concludes Bolter. The graphics card will improve and the pixels on the screens will become smaller, and it’s all just going to get better
ABOVE Eben Bolter doesn’t angle the camera high, as this would reveal the join between the screens
INDUSTRY INSIDER Virtual production specialist Lux
Despite this advice, the demand for virtual production technology has grown tremendously this year. Galler explains: “Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there’s been a massive upswing for this technology, because it offers an avenue to producing content that didn’t exist before, but we hadn’t envisioned it becoming properly accessible until 2023.” With this in mind, Galler notes that this technology is “still very much in its science experiment stage” and that there are apples and oranges comparisons happening everywhere, despite there being no standardisation. “We’re seeing a lot of virtual production providers popping up, some with no production experience, and all with different service offerings and technology, especially on the camera tracking side,” he says. For Lux Machina at least, its biggest technological advancement in the last six months has been in the photo-real rendering quality of digital characters. “I think we underestimate how much time is spent building character assets. Now, we’re able to advertise the use of an asset we build once in virtual art – and, with it being available at the beginning of production, it could become a highly profitable marketing tool.” He concludes: “Everyone’s focused on virtual production as the death of the green screen, but actually I think it’s going to be driven by the hype around assets from marketing companies.”
Machina partnered with ILM and Epic to develop the technologies deployed for The Mandalorian ’s in-camera VFX, including LED, camera tracking and rendering. Since then, The Mandalorian has become somewhat of a style request, like a Rachel Green haircut, with many producers requesting it because of its “cool backgrounds”, says Phil Galler, co-CEO at Lux Machina. However, style is not the reason why The Mandalorian producers used these virtual production technologies. Had it been shot on green screen, the reflective nature of the eponymous Mandalorian’s armour would have been “nigh on impossible to fix in post without spending millions and millions of dollars”, explains Galler. Adding: “If you’re going to spend that money, you may as well do it in pre-production, because at least then you know what you’re going to get.” Still, Galler firmly believes that virtual production technology should be used by filmmakers as a tool to help them, and not as something that they conform their whole workflow to. “Unless you’re going to be constantly using a giant disco ball in your production, then you don’t need a full wraparound and ceiling screen. This is not a cheap, nor an easy solution. It requires a lot of different production professionals – such as visual art, tech- vis and pre-vis departments – to do it accurately and at scale.”
24 DEF I N I T ION | JANUARY 202 1
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