Virtual Production

In the last week I completed a course in Virtual Production 101 from the Mars Academy in London, giving me a basic grounding in VP Filmmaking. This is a huge arena and means different things to different productions, it’s the latest evolution of VFX like green screen, shooting on a volume stage where the background of the world you are shooting in (real world or off world) is projected onto LED screens during the shoot, bringing post production into pre production resulting in a more immersive shoot environment for cast and crew. You may have seen it being used in The Batman, The Mandalorian, Obi Wan (basically most things on Disney+ right now). 

During the week, I worked with some really excellent people, got a basic understanding of workflow and the teams required for such a shoot, shooting on Mars’s incredible volume stage and had hands on experience working in teams with 2D plates and 3D Unreal Engine environments. 

Important to note, it’s not for every project, it’s a tool in the storytelling toolkit to deploy in a smart way; a problem solving device, anything from shooting driving with dialogue scenes, to exploring far away worlds, to shooting pick ups in a location you may not have access anymore. It allows you to be more intentional and precise with the challenge building the physical set around the virtual one, the goal being a seamless shot on screen. 

Thanks to Mars and Screenskills for providing this opportunity, I would be interested exploring projects in this evolving realm, so please get in touch if interested