VP STORY SUSTAINABILITY
In short, location shooting is time- consuming and expensive. And while there is obviously an environmental cost to virtual production in terms of power consumption of equipment, all the movement is centralised. Cast and (much smaller) crew can all shoot their scenes one after the other, with the scenery on the screens surrounding the volume changing to reflect where they are on the script. Using the latest iteration of Unreal Engine or high-res captured footage, environments can be recreated swiftly and convincingly. Scene set-up is now reduced to simply costume changes and repositioning cameras, allowing productions to work through more pages of script in any given day than ever
before. There is no wastage, either of the majority of set materials (some physical elements can, of course, still be used on the stage) nor hanging around waiting for the weather to change. The Moors can be as windswept as a production wants, staying that way until the scene is in the can. Then, press a button and switch to the stately home surrounds of Thrushcross Grange or the 16th-century Wuthering Heights farmhouse itself. This flexibility and lack of real-world movement dramatically reduces the carbon footprint of any production. There are other synergies, too. The LED volume can be driven wholly by renewables, for instance, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that the whole chain is moving
towards a more sustainable means of production. At CVP, we have a pledge to be carbon net zero by 2030, and with more broadcasters and major studios doing the same, it will become a necessity for productions at all levels, from corporate videos to big-budget blockbusters, to mirror this. Of course, virtual production is not suitable for everything. You will struggle to create a long drone shot of Heathcliff striding across the Moors using an LED volume, for example. But where and when virtual production can be used (and it can be matched seamlessly even with shots like that), it can save significant amounts of both emissions and money while still delivering content of the highest standard.
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