How virtual production helps reduce cost and carbon footprint

Over the past two years, the pandemic has transformed the entertainment industry, forcing studios to rethink the way productions are planned. Smaller crews, budget constraints, and COVID restrictions have pushed virtual production to the forefront of the industry, allowing the crew to go back in time or into the future and travel anywhere on a project without leaving the studio. Virtual groups that replace traditional green screens can use 2D playback of photographs on LED walls, or 3D tracking that moves with the camera so that the image changes as if it were in a real group.

For example, ILM’s advanced StageCraft LED wall technology, which surrounds actors with realistic scenes, was used for nearly half of the scenes in “The Mandalorian.” Disney also brought a StageCraft matrix with 700 LED panels to its new virtual production stage Infinity in Burbank, allowing Hilary Duff to roam across the virtual Brooklyn Bridge in “How I Met Your Father.”

Not only do the products save a great deal of money, but they also reduce carbon emissions. And it’s not just Disney and Marvel that are benefiting from virtual production – the expansion has paved the way for independent features and smaller TV shows.

Virtual production producer Susan Zurman, whose credits include Excional Minds, “Black Panther” and “Black Widow,” is a former visual effects executive who has moved into the virtual arena. “When the Covid virus hit, I saw virtual productions starting to take off because companies couldn’t shoot on location,” says Zwerman, who aims to educate directors and producers on how technology is reaching all filmmakers.

As more scenes are captured around the world for use in virtual environments, the assets are getting cheaper. Production Director Chris Chondler at commercial product Quite Brilliant is a talk makeover. “Our industry doesn’t have a track record when it comes to their environmental responsibilities,” he says, “huge crews travel all over the world with energy-intensive generators, equipment, and big kits for one-time disposal. We are good at communicating what the problem is but oftentimes we are part of the problem “.

Chaundler also initiated a study based on virtual site photography that showed how filming a virtual production reduced carbon footprints and lowered site costs.

Courtesy of ICON Virtual

He’s not the only CEO who has seen the advantages of the new technology. FX’s “Snowfall,” now in its fifth season, is a budget cable series based on virtual production, and as a result saved up to $49,000 an episode by reducing transit hours, filming time, and crew loads.

Virtual production supervisor AJ Wedding explains that he and the show’s moderators worked with Orbital Virtual Studios in Los Angeles, switching from filming locations to LED walls. “We were able to identify several areas of cost savings and work with them on workflow changes so they could achieve the look they wanted without out-of-control location costs. In the end, the crew liked to stay on stage, and the directors and program directors could choose any time of the day. Or the weather conditions they want to see. He created an art stadium.”

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FX’s Snowfall used virtual productions this season
Courtesy of FX/AJ’s Wedding

Zurman feels that many will adopt the new process when they become familiar with it. “This starts with a broader understanding of virtual production and a greater training effort,” she says. “It is important to share this knowledge and demystify virtual productions so that we encourage more producers and filmmakers to adopt this technology. In a sense, we are preserving our environment by portraying the digital environment.”



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