Category: Film and Narrative Structures

With my critical report, I wished to talk about a new technology in the form of using LED Boards together with virtual productions, and whether this would overtake the use of green screening. This research started when i cam up with the idea of the topic after becoming interested in the Visual Effects done throughout “The Mandalorian”. I had previously heard a year ago from a fellow CG Artist about the production an behind the scenes of this, and I Had recalled other VFX Artists i knew talking about the progression of Virtual Production using Unreal Engine.

Firstly i went about watching some videos regarding the creation of the show, and then moved on to things like looking at how these virtual production sets worked in general and looking through articles. One of my starting points of researching this technology was my blogpost about emerging technologies where i mainly used articles and videos currently made about this technology. In my paper i wanted to go more in depth and explore both what this tech is used for as well as how it will in my opinion, become the next big stage in compositing tech.

I knew that i had wanted to talk about this in some way, and started analysing what i could discuss about his topic, as reiterating the new technology wasn’t what i wanted to do. I decided to go for a comparison between the current methods of compositing and this new technology, this required both the knowledge i had already researched about the tech, as well as some of the history behind previous compositing and some academic articles about the topic.

One of the ways i went about researching this was searching through articles like “Alpha and the history of digital compositing” to get a basis on the history behind some of the infancy of some of the techniques used in compositing today, as i believe this tech is in it’s infancy and will replace compositing and needed to support this with evidence of prior technology. I then went through citing and gathering resources I Would find that would benefit my research and further my point about this topic.

While writing this report, i tried to make sure to while also expressing the positives of this technology compared to traditional compositing, i also wanted to give the drawbacks this software involves, as to accurately asses whether or not this technique would become a new industry standard, i wanted both the positives and negatives.

After this i went about using the above gathered research on compositing history, some of the newest journals regarding this technology, and simply reading through chapters about digital compositing and the traditional uses of green screen in the VES Handbook, i went about structuring my argument and writing my critical report.

Below is the presentation i gave on the report.

An emerging technology that i grew very interested in throughout the past year was the use of LED Walls in a Virtual Production Setting and it’s use in the industry as of late. I Originally found out about what these were and how they’re used through watching Star Wars: The Mandalorian, as the director Jean Favreau chose to use this technique after his time and experience filming virtual sets when filming The Lion King: (2019) and The Jungle Book (2016).

LED VP Sets are first and foremost defined by software. 3D Environments are created using Epic Game’s Unreal Engine. 3D Artists can create realistic and easily editable virtual environments that can be changed on the fly with a stage manager who controls the backdrop then projected on to these LED Boards. The boards are set on to a large circular dome like stage in which anything can be placed on the screens.

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One might wonder, why not just use a green screen? LED Board virtual sets are very expensive, while a green screen set can be much cheaper. However, the long term gains of an LED Board VP set can outweigh a green screen set in the long run. Greenscreening must be lit properly, chroma keyed in post production, and will often have despilled light on actors that will need to be cleaned in post production, as well as actors having to imagine what is going to be added in post.

The benefits of a virtual set using LED Boards are realistic lighting, as light is being produced from the actual boards and can be tweaked easily from a control panel, scenes can easily be changed instead of building new sets, there are costs saved due to filming all being in one location, and actors don’t have to imagine being in a location. As actress Neshe Demir explains in the RoeVisual article “Successful Virtual Production Showcase uses Roe Visual LED Screens”; “You’re directly in the right environment depicted in the scene, so you don’t have to visualize it. I could feel that my body reflections reacted to the environment shown, making the acting much more natural and easier.”

One of the main benefits of using this technology is that the Boards work in tandem with the camera whenever the camera moves. If the camera rotates side to side, the board will use the Camera’s info to move the image being projected on the board, creating a realistic parallax effect as explained in Vox’s video on the subject.

The question has to be asked as to whether or not this will remove the need for green screens entirely. In a video interview from Insider, Richard Bluff the Visual Effects Supervisor at ILM, one of the leading pioneers in this new form of virtual production, explained that “Eventually of course we hope to never use green screen, But i still see that there will be a future for it in the short-term, because there’s likely always a need to remove people, to add additional action behind them. But we are getting to the point where the amount of green screen that’s being used is massively reduced and the sky is the limit right now.” Green Screen can still be added on these sets, but can be targeted to certain areas, thus keeping the lighting data from the surroundings and keeping the green background. Time will tell whether or not this technique will overtake traditional green screen entirely, or if it will be used in tandem with green screen to create seamless backgrounds and sets.

Sources:

SEYMOUR, M.I.K.E. (2020) Art of (Led Wall) Virtual Production Sets, Part Two: ‘How You Make One’ [online]available from <https://www.fxguide.com/fxfeatured/art-of-led-wall-virtual-production-sets-part-two-how-you-make-one/>

CADE, D.L. (2019) Incredible Real-Time Visual Effects Tech Replaces Green Screens with LED Walls [online]available from <https://petapixel.com/2019/08/22/demo-of-incredible-real-time-visual-effects-using-massive-led-walls/>

Anon. (n.d.) Roe Visual LED Screens for Successful Virtual Production Showcase [online]available from <https://www.roevisual.com/nl-en/news-and-events/news/successful-virtual-production-showcase-uses-roe-visual-led-screens>

Insider. (2020) YouTube. available from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufp8weYYDE8&ab_channel=Insider>

Vox. (2020) YouTube. available from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yNkBic7GfI&ab_channel=Vox>

Casino Royale was released in 2006 as part of the British 007 series to critical reception as an Action Adventure movie, while the American John Wick 2 was released as a sequel to the original John Wick movie in 2017 as an Action Thriller movie. I chose to compare these films as both being very action oriented movies that are both similar in tone and feel with both being listed under the “Action / Thriller” genres on IMDB and being highly rated at 8/10 for Casino Royale and 7.5/10 For John Wick 2.

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These movies while being a decade apart with Casino Royale being produced in 2006 and John Wick 2 being produced in 2017. Both of these were also filmed in different locations in the world and were mainly cast / produced for different continents. With John Wick 2 being filmed in Montreal Canada and the primary country or origin being the United States, and Casino Royale being filmed in Italy and the primary country of origin being the United Kingdom.

John Wick 2 follows the story of an Ex-Hit-man pulled back into a life of violence and murder, as he is pulled back into the dark world of being one of the world’s most elite assassins after giving up a life of crime to live with his wife and dog. John is both feared and respected by his opponents and the people around him.

Casino Royale Follows the story of James Bond, a covert MI5 Spy with a license to kill as he works to track down a private banker at a casino halfway across the world in Montenegro who funds a terrorist organization. James is put into a high stakes poker game in which he must win games and conduct espionage to take down the private banker of this organization and make his way through a criminal organization stealthy. James Bond is notorious for being an efficient and deadly operative who gets the job done.

Both of these movies center around Male characters who are trained and powerful killers who are both feared and respected in both of their worlds, the main difference being one working in a dark criminal underworld, and one infiltrating said world for the purpose of good.

One of the large differences between these movies is the approach in pacing, as James bond can be very Suspenseful, holding on to scenes for a very long time, focusing on heavy amounts of dialogue and keeping a tight angle on the characters, making us feel tense and uneasy during scenes like the poker game, while John Wick 2 is much more action heavy and focused. Making the viewer feel on edge through daring and adrenaline filled action sequences.

Both of these movies maybe of the same genre, and both follow a similar male archetype character, however the thematic choices and story are very different, and both tell a different story and have a different feel while having the same genre.

Sources:

Anon, IMDB- Casino royale. IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/plotsummary

Anon, 2006. Casino royale. IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

Anon, 2017. John Wick: Chapter 2. IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4425200/

Anon, John Wick: Chapter 2. IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4425200/plotsummary

In the Netflix Series “Squid Game” Contestants are put in a life-or-death game in which they are meant to compete against each other. With the second game of this challenge being a game called honeycomb in which the players are to cut a shape out of honeycomb within 15 minutes, failure to do so results in the elimination and death of the characters. I will be doing my Mise-en Scène on the “Honeycomb Game” scene from the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_XHjj-u_ig&ab_channel=Trending

The Setting and Props

The setting of this scene is meant to be a childhood playground, with many of the colours in the scene being bright vibrant colours on the background, with painted blue walls and colourful playground equipment. This all would feel very safe aside from the guns being carried around by the game’s hosts and the overall reality of this game being life or death.

The Costumes

The costumes of this scene are made to be all the players in a green almost indigo colour, ready to play the game. The hosts of the game that always hold weapons wear masks and bright red or pink clothes, almost as if a warning that an animal gives off. The hosts also always wear masks, adding to a level of dehumanization or mystique in that you never know who they are and always seem automated or cold.

The Facial Expressions and Body Language

In terms of the facial expressions throughout the scene, all characters go through varying stages, with some being happy about getting easier shapes, some in distress, and many being brought back to the reality of the situation after the first player is eliminated, going to hopelessness or even fear, their body language usually being tense, cowered over in fear. This contrasts heavily with the masked game hosts showing no emotion having very calm body language and walking around without even reacting to the death around them, adding to the player’s fears and tension of the scene.

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The Lighting and Colour

The lighting and colour of the scene is meant to be very colourful in the prop designs, but in terms of actual grading, a lot of the colours are toned to have very blue and green colours purposefully, attempting to blend even the more colorful tones to more drab and darker tones to enforce the overall tension in this scene. This is also exemplified with many shots having a vignette, especially on wider shots to make it feel more claustrophobic or tense.

This contrasts heavily with a lot of the grading within scenes out of the game, with an in-between showing a character being taken out of the game immediately going back to lighter tones.

The positioning of Characters and Camerawork

The positioning of characters and camerawork of this scene both exemplifies the game being played and the overall entire game throughout the series. There are many shots in which the hosts of the game are framed either standing above the contestants or being above them. This Is being used to exemplify that the players truly have no power and are at the whims of the game and their own skills in order to survive. Even with top-down views, the players are still shown all on the floor with even some on their knees, with the hosts standing above them with weapons.

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The Blair Witch Project was a movie in 1999 that challenged a lot of the conceptions of what a movie of the time should be. The movie is based off the premise of a camera crew going into the woods to film a documentary about the legends of a witch in the nearby woods. This adds an element of the film being very Meta and feeling more real as the cameras, audio equipment and crew are all referenced in the story of the movie. The movie seemed so real in fact, that in a quote from The guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/may/21/how-we-made-the-blair-witch-project

The co-director of the film, Daniel Myrick stated that: “We were listed as deceased on IMDb. Our parents started getting condolence calls”

The film consisted of only 3 cast members and cost around 26,000 pounds to shoot.

At first, the film doesn’t appear to have a very concise beginning, middle and end. The end is very abrupt and the climax at first appears to happen within 5 minutes of the ending. This works to the movie’s effect of realism, as in real life, things can proceed or go down hill quickly, but as a movie it’s somewhat different from the traditional Three act structure seen in most movies.

Exposition: The Exposition for The Blair Witch Project is longer then most films, with the conflict not starting until much later on in the film. The exposition starts with introducing us to the main characters and giving us a bit about each of their personalities through their interactions with each other, and then giving us small hints about what or who the Blair witch might be through interviews with local residents.

Conflict: The conflict in the film occurs when after filming shots over a day in the woods, the group finds themselves lost on the second day and can’t find their way back, attempting to stick to a map and compass to find their way home.

Rising Action: The rising action in this film takes up the longest portion of the film, with the climax, falling action and resolution only taking up around 15 minutes at the end of the movie. The rising action consists of the characters fights between each other, stressing over being lost, and having an unidentified entity consistently antagonize the characters night after night. This leads to a lot of smaller elements like losing the map to get out, interpersonal fights between characters, and revisiting the same areas or finding weird symbols on trees, all being separate conflicts that come together as one to quickly deteriorate the character’s mental states.

Climax: The climax of this film happens very quickly over a short period of time and its slightly difficult where to determine where the climax actually is. One of the characters is taken in the night, and throughout the next day the remaining two characters attempt to find him with no success. The small action portions in this movie occur over night, leaving the days to feel like a reprise, with this day being the shortest out of all others and not letting the viewer feel much relief at all from the previous night.

Falling Action: The falling action for this movie comes with both the viewer and character’s slow realization that the group most likely isn’t going to make it out of this situation. Over the course of around 5 minutes, the characters find an abandoned house while hearing their friend call out to them and scout around to try and look for their friend. It could be perceived that this is also a continuation of the climax, with the falling action not being a main emphasis and the story ending abruptly.

Resolution: The resolution of this film ends with the implied death of the characters on screen. With this being made to be a handheld or found footage style film, the audience only sees what the character sees as long as the character is filming. This leads to intentional gaps in the viewers knowledge when the characters are not filming, leaving the audience to piece together or interpret what has happened or other story elements throughout the film.

Overall: This film is difficult to analyse in a typical 3 act structure as by design, it is made to have portions that are very quick and others that are very long. The beginning of the film with both the exposition and conflict follows the typical three act structure, but the rising action and climax go far past the 2/4rd portions of the runtime, with both the climax, falling action and resolution all happening so quickly that it’s difficult to place exactly where the climax starts and where the rising action does. This does make the story feel rushed towards the end or even chaotic, but the intention was to make this story feel real with chaotic quick segments making it feel all the more real.