Virtual production has enabled the dazzling visual effects in mega-blockbusters like Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. It’s going to revolutionize animation next.
Guest post by EJ Borg and Randall Goldfarb The disruption to the entertainment industry caused by Covid-19 has been well documented. The pandemic put a wholesale stop on global film and television production, and theater closures have limited the ways in which audiences can view films. While Los Angeles has officially reopened for production and theaters are slowly letting moviegoers back inside, the reality on the ground has been different. Studios have been slow to restart television production because they fear legal liability, and film production remains relatively shuttered as travel restrictions make it costly or impossible to shoot films on location. After a six-month production delay, Matt Reeves’ Batman restarted production at Warner Bros. Studios in London. After just three days of shooting, the film’s star, Robert Pattinson, tested positive for coronavirus, and the production once again shut down. Virtual Production As A Solution In the last three months, every major studio has revisited its production strategy. One clear trend has emerged—virtual production may be the panacea to remedy the studios’ headaches. Virtual production refers to the deployment of virtual characters or virtual sets in film and television. The technology comes in many forms; it was developed for James Cameron’s Avatar in 2009 and applied recently on The Mandalorian. Avatar pushed virtual production technology forward. A decade later, and a development cycle later, this technology is ubiquitous. Projecting virtual sets on LED walls in a soundstage in Los Angeles means that Jon Favreau, creator of The Mandalorian, can transport his actors from the deserts of Tatooine to a restaurant on the forest planet Sorgan in minutes. The benefits are clear: no need to travel and complete control of the set. Filmmakers can work faster and more flexibly and can comply with Covid-19 restrictions. In live action, there is no economic benefit to applying the technology—just creative, compliance and logistical benefits.
