LOCATION SCOUTING VIRTUAL PRODUCTION
W hile many might assume a location manager’s job is simply about finding, opening and closing physical locations, the reality is that their contributions are far broader. They provide essential logistical, legal, risk management and financial guidance to the crew and production. This expertise is just as useful and necessary for productions shot on a virtual stage as for those on location. Whether shooting on a physical location or on a sound stage, the core challenges remain: obtaining permits, managing schedules, coordinating with other productions, ensuring good relationships with neighbours and maintaining clear communication across the crew. Location departments are uniquely skilled in navigating these complex issues, making them invaluable to any production. “Having worked on many productions that utilised volume technology, I’ve now refined my scouting techniques to better
THE VOLUME ALLOWS SCOUTS to push boundaries ”
support the director and production designer,” begins location manager Zachary Quemore ( The Revenant , Star Wars: Skeleton Crew ). “Examples of this are using drones for real-time location awareness, creating 3D models and VR assets for previs and VFX, capturing 360 HDRI with a 360 camera or DSLR for light mapping and worldbuilding within the volume. I produce 2.5D images specifically for use as direct backgrounds on volume screens.” In fact, the use of a virtual stage opens up new possibilities for scouting, since the practical accessibility limitation
is removed. Where locations once needed to accommodate crews of 150 to 200 people, volume technology enables exploration of more remote or challenging environments like lava tubes, dense forests or high-rise buildings. Even locations with strict time or access limitations can be shot briefly and recreated on a volume, allowing production to bypass those restrictions while maintaining a location’s integrity. “The volume is an incredible tool, expanding the options we can present to directors and production designers, and it allows scouts to push the boundaries of what’s possible in film production,” says Quemore. For VFX-heavy shows that take place primarily on stage, the role of the location manager is often quite different. “VFX plate units tend to be very small film crews with limited equipment – sometimes just a camera,” explains Leann Emmert, location scout and manager ( Dune: Part One ). “That gives the location team the freedom to look at places that might be more difficult to access, like those that can only be reached by helicopter, hiking or where large equipment trucks can’t go.” For Godzilla vs Kong , Emmert worked with a helicopter plate unit of five people, filming icebergs and glaciers in Greenland for Monarch’s remote Arctic headquarters and for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire , they filmed remote mountain cliffs and lava fields in Hawaii. “Plate units are not constrained by noise issues,” she says. “For instance, on Pacific Rim Uprising , we filmed in a new water treatment plant in Orange County. The pipes and infrastructure were stunning and the noise of the machinery – which would be a problem for filming
REAL OR NOT? Framestore tech in a volume for 1899 (top left); scouting deserts for Dune (above)
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