ROUND TABLE
in virtually every part of the business. Advances in real-time technologies will continue to allow artists to have more immersive, responsive and collaborative workflows. While we will see a certain amount of movement in 2024, I expect this to be a longer-term evolution. Christina Nowak: Because of the strikes, the industry has suffered this year and many organisations had to make drastic changes to survive. The struggle for the film/TV industry is as real now as it was in the pandemic. A byproduct of this has been mass redundancies, postponed or removed investment from technology and/or product development, as well as a change of focus on what sectors can provide income to these businesses. This adaptation to survive will greatly impact the advancements we see for 2024. For the moment, all I see will be advancements focused around refining software plug-ins, usability and remote production tools, including initial steps on standardising the workflow of emerging technologies. The exception probably being the use of AI as it is so multifunctional in its use cases, especially around assisting creatives with their aerial cinematography and location scanning workflows, assisting in the curation of previs assets, moving images, MetaHumans and so on. The discussion and investment going into AI will see greater experimentation and adoption, which will also help our industry’s parameters for governance.
BECAUSE OF THE STRIKES, THE INDUSTRY has suffered . MANY ORGANISATIONS HAD TO MAKE drastic changes TO SURVIVE”
Def: Are there any emerging technologies that filmmakers should be keeping a close eye on for the coming year and beyond? SP: Virtual production is on the rise in the production world and universities are heavily investing in this as a result. Connecting production tools with metadata and VFX artists are your new best friends. PS: There are a number of emerging technologies that are interesting, but I’d encourage filmmakers to keep an eye on generative AI and broader happenings in virtual production (beyond LED volumes). ET: Filmmakers should keep a close eye on the leaps being made in 3D rendering technology next year. Discoveries like 3D Gaussian Splatting will completely transform how virtual content is created. While volumetric technology, photogrammetry and NeRFs (neural radiance fields) already exist to render 3D scenes and objects, they do have flaws. Photogrammetry struggles with fine details in distant scenes. While NeRFs can take detail to a whole new level, they take a long time to render due to heavy processing requirements. In comparison, Gaussian Splatting – powered by enhanced AI and machine- learning technologies – allows real-time rendering of photorealistic scenes learnt from small samples of images. The level of detail is incredible, offering a vast number of use cases for filmmaking, from creating 3D objects and humans to entire cities. The technology is currently limited to those with deep scientific understanding, but barriers to entry will begin to lower next year and filmmakers should be prepared to experiment.
CN: I would say AI, specifically in terms of researching how this may assist technologically, creatively and administratively. If this can help speed up treatments, pitches or processes, it may prove to be an interesting tool to aid your creativity, by removing some of the less creative aspects of one’s job, rather than just focusing on what it can do for you creatively. Def: Are there new visual or narrative trends/ forms that you expect to see more in 2024? PS: I expect to see more work in the interactive space. Filmmaking today often involves creating amazing virtual worlds, and sharing those environments in other ways is likely to grow. SP: There is increasing demand for more diverse and inclusive storytelling that reflects a broader range of voices and experiences. For example, stories that explore different cultures, perspectives and underrepresented communities, fostering a more inclusive and representative entertainment landscape. With the popularity of short-form content on platforms like TikTok, filmmakers can experiment with shorter formats and anthologies, allowing more concise storytelling and the exploration of diverse narratives within a single project. As CGI and deepfake technologies continue to advance, filmmakers can explore more realistic and seamless integration of digital elements into live-action scenes. This could lead to new creative possibilities and storytelling techniques. CN: I’d like to think that with the impact of the strikes on Epic Games and Unity, we may see more creativity unfold
SHORT STORIES Filmmakers have begun experimenting with shorter-format videos to express their creative flair
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