1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you? I got a request 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,080 Speaker 1: on Twitter from Bronson Adams to talk about the tech 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: of the volume, which is extensively used in the more 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: recent Star Wars projects that we have seen, particularly on 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: Disney Plus, as well as the A R Wall which 9 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: is being used for Star Trek projects. So once again 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: it's Star Wars versus Star Trek. These two technologies are 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,159 Speaker 1: actually quite similar to one another, so I figure we 12 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,560 Speaker 1: can tackle both of them together, and right at the top, 13 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,200 Speaker 1: I'm going to say that these technologies in some ways 14 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: actually harkened back to ye olden days of filmmaking, and 15 00:00:57,360 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: in other ways they are an attempt to address the 16 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: problem ms that come with setting a film in a 17 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 1: fantastical place, and that includes, you know, worlds that just 18 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,639 Speaker 1: don't exist. So how do you bring those to life 19 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: in a way that's believable and immersive so that you know, 20 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: you're actors don't have any issues performing within the space, 21 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 1: and your audience hopefully totally buys into it. So when 22 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: you're doing that second thing, that is when you are 23 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: trying to create a world that doesn't really exist and 24 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: make it exist on film, you're putting a lot of 25 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: pressure on yourself and the actors. Maybe you have a 26 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: massive budget and you can actually build sets so that 27 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: your fantastical world is more or less realized, but that 28 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: might not be a practical solution, and maybe instead you 29 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: film everything against a green screen, or maybe you have 30 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: an entire set where there are elements that are greened 31 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: out and then you use the chroma key process to 32 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: replace it with, you know, whatever is supposed to be there. 33 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: If you've ever seen shots of the prequel trilogy from 34 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: Star Wars when it was in production, you'll see like 35 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: there were entire sets where they were just like arches 36 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: and things that were all decked out in green to 37 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,959 Speaker 1: be replaced later. But then imagine the actors who are 38 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: in that place, who are trying to perform in what 39 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: is essentially a featureless green environment and still do a 40 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: believable job that is not easy. If you need any 41 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: evidence about how challenging this can be, even for revered actors, 42 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: you can listen to Sir Ian McKellen talk about it 43 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: in the commentary for The Hobbit and Unexpected Journey, though 44 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: I would understand it if you didn't want to do that, 45 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: because it would mean having to watch The Hobbit. Now. 46 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 1: I say that as a dude who hasn't had to 47 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: en Elvish on my left arm. I'm a huge Hobbit fan. 48 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: It's my favorite book in the world. I am not 49 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: a fan of the films anyway. Mckillan said that he 50 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: was absolutely miserable acting in these green screen environments against 51 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: no one at all, because you know, all of the 52 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: elements of the scene that he was supposed to be 53 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: reacting to they would all be added in later. And 54 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: he said that he actually considered quitting acting if that 55 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: is what acting now was going to be, which is 56 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: a big old roof. But the volume and the A 57 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: R wall both are systems that can project stuff that 58 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: otherwise wouldn't be within the scene on L E. D screens. 59 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,519 Speaker 1: Now that means the actors are not just sitting there 60 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: trying to imagine what's supposed to be around them and 61 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: hoping that they get it right. You don't have to 62 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: worry about five different actors having five different eye lines 63 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: towards some imaginary spot because they can actually see the 64 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: thing that they're supposed to be looking at, it could 65 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: be much more immersive with some restrictions. Now, before I 66 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: get into all that, I think it would behoove us 67 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: to talk about some of the methods that came before 68 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: where filmmakers were trying to get around these limitations of reality. 69 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: Filmmaking has always been about finding ways to push against 70 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: those limited aations, and some of those efforts worked to 71 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: a degree, and some, especially in the early days, didn't. 72 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: So let's talk about some very early visual effects or 73 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: VFX techniques that relate to one another. And a lot 74 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: of this material is stuff that I have talked about 75 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: in previous episodes, so I'm not going to go into 76 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: exhaustive detail, but it really falls under this general topic 77 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: of compositing. Now. In film, compositing is where you're doing 78 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: the incorporation of two or more images from separate sources 79 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: into a final shot. For example, a typical green screen 80 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: application would see a character in the foreground that would 81 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: be an image from source number one. Right, you had 82 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: your primary camera on your main character against a green background. 83 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: That background would be coming from a second image source 84 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: so that would be image number two. Maybe it's a 85 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: filmed source. Maybe you went out and filmed on locations inplace, 86 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: and you know it wasn't practical to get the actor 87 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 1: out to that location, or maybe it wasn't safe, and 88 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: so you pair them that way. Maybe the background's computer generated, 89 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: maybe it never existed in the first place, doesn't really matter. 90 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: The point is the finished scene, the finished film is 91 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: this composite of these two images into a final image 92 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: to make the illusion that that character was in that 93 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: location at that time. So your foreground characters appearing in 94 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: front of wherever you wanted them to be. Now, way 95 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: back at the turn of the twentieth centuries, around nineteen 96 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: a filmmaker named George Mellier was pioneering all kinds of techniques. 97 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: Like you want to talk about a a brilliant filmmaker. 98 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: Melia is one of the best. You know, some filmmakers 99 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,039 Speaker 1: were just gob smacked at the idea of being able 100 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,359 Speaker 1: to record a performance that could be played back endlessly, 101 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:58,840 Speaker 1: or at least, you know, until the film war out. 102 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: Mellier was getting really experimental. Now, remember in ye olden 103 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: days everything was shot on film, and some of you 104 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: might not really know that much about film because things 105 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: have changed so so quickly. You know, back when I 106 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: was a young lad, hardly anyone had access to digital cameras. 107 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: That we all had access to film cameras. Film is 108 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: a strip of plastic that's coated with chemicals that are photoreactive. 109 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: That means that when they are exposed to light, they 110 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 1: undergo a chemical reaction. This opens up the opportunity to 111 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 1: do stuff like double exposures. Now, a double exposure is 112 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:41,840 Speaker 1: when you expose the same piece of film to light 113 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: more than once. Uh. Now, sometimes that would happen by accident. 114 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: You know, if you had a film camera, you might 115 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: accidentally take a photo on a frame that had already 116 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: been exposed to light once before, and you would end 117 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,479 Speaker 1: up with sometimes an unsettling image. You know, it might 118 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:59,919 Speaker 1: look like there was kind of a ghostly figure appear 119 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: ring in a separate scene, and it could be really 120 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: off putting. Sometimes it was just a mass, depending on 121 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: what you were taking images of. But if you did 122 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: it purposefully and carefully, you could achieve really interesting effects. 123 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: And Malier created a film called The One Man Band 124 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: that used seven exposures and it's a silent film. It's 125 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: a short silent film. You can actually find it on YouTube. 126 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: You can do a search for the one man band 127 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: and watch it. And it starts with a man walking 128 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: in front of seven chairs that are set out on 129 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: a stage there, side by side, and he points out 130 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: those seven chairs very uh, in a very exaggerated fashion, 131 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: and then he sits in the first chair on the 132 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: left side of the view, and then stands up, but 133 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: a figure of him remains seated in that chair number one. 134 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 1: The standing version of him moves over one, sits in 135 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: chair number two, then stands up. Copy of him remains 136 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: in chair number two. So now you've got pies of 137 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: them in chairs one and two, and a standing version 138 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: that moves to three. And he does this all the 139 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: way down, so that there are ultimately seven of him, 140 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: so presumably one original and six copies. And not only that, 141 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: but each time he stands up, the one that's in 142 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: the chair as holding a different musical instrument, and uh, 143 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: the one in the middle actually stands up and conducts 144 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: the other six as they appear to play music against 145 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: the silent films. You don't actually hear anything, but it 146 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: is a clever show of how this multiple exposure approach 147 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: would allow you to do in camera effects. Now that 148 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: technique is interested, but it is limited. You know, you 149 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: can technically clone a person on screen using multiple exposure, 150 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 1: but you know, if they cross paths, you get this 151 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: kind of ghostly effect, and you would have to do 152 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,679 Speaker 1: it with right lighting so that no one appeared kind 153 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: of like transparent, unless I guess that's what you were 154 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,839 Speaker 1: going for, in which case, go for it. But you know, 155 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: the next example is one that more closely ties into 156 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: what the volume and the A R wall are doing. 157 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: And it is called background projection. And yeah, it's it's 158 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: exactly what it sounds like. It's projecting a background. So 159 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: imagine here's a very typical use of it. Imagine that 160 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: you've got a sound stage, right, you can control everything 161 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: in the sound stage. It's an ideal environment for shooting 162 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: a film. You don't have to worry about being on 163 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: location and dealing with things like whether or noise or 164 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: anything like that. So you're on your sound stage and 165 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: you want to shoot a sequence where your characters are 166 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,080 Speaker 1: in a car and they're traveling somewhere. Well, clearly you 167 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:44,679 Speaker 1: can't actually have the car driving around on the sound 168 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: stage at least not more than a few feet. So 169 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: one way you would get around this is you would 170 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: set up your car. You would have your actors sitting 171 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: in the car, and behind the car, to the side 172 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: of the car, whatever angle you were looking at, you 173 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:02,439 Speaker 1: would set up screens or plates, and upon that you 174 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: would project video or really film of movement that would 175 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: be in the right angle compared to the vehicle's orientation. 176 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: So this is something that would require a lot of uh, finagling, 177 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: just to make sure you had it right, otherwise it 178 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: would be very off putting. Your camera would need to 179 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: be at the right angle, pointed at the car, and 180 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: the screens would me need to be at the right angle, 181 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:29,079 Speaker 1: and the footage would need to be shot at the 182 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: right angle to give the illusion that the people saying 183 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: in the car actually traveling down like a country lane 184 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: or something like that. Meanwhile, you film the whole thing 185 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,560 Speaker 1: in your film camera, so you're actually shooting not just 186 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: live actors, but you're shooting pre shot filmed footage that's 187 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: playing in the background. It wasn't perfect, you know. You 188 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: can definitely tell when this is used. If you watch 189 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 1: any old film or old television series, you can pick 190 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: out when this happens when characters are in a car 191 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: and you just look and you say, yeah, that that 192 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: that is clearly background projection. And obviously if you didn't 193 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: have the alignment right, it would be kind of weird too. Right. 194 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,839 Speaker 1: Let's say that the angle you've chosen to shoot your 195 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,199 Speaker 1: scene is kind of a three quarter profile type thing, 196 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: but the angle of the footage is straight on going 197 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: down the street, Well, it would look like the car 198 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 1: was somehow traveling out of its alignment down the road. 199 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: So everything had to fit or else the illusion was 200 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: completely broken. And even when the illusion wasn't completely broken, 201 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: it's still pretty obvious. So if you watch films from 202 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: the so called Golden Age of Hollywood, you're probably gonna 203 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,440 Speaker 1: see a lot of background projection. It was very, very popular, 204 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 1: and you can usually tell right away the background tends 205 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 1: to be extra grainy compared to stuff that's going on 206 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: in the foreground. Film has a grainy quality to it, 207 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: So shooting film on film gets you know, that grain 208 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 1: equality gets amplified, right, because you're picking up the grain 209 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: of the background film. Plus it's the grain of the 210 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: actual film you're using, So it's stacks and there are 211 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: tons of other camera tricks that I could talk about 212 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: from the classic film age, but most of it doesn't 213 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:21,680 Speaker 1: actually actively apply to the volume and the A R wall. Instead, 214 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: we should specifically talk about techniques where you're trying to 215 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: create foreground action and a manufactured background, because early on 216 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:36,959 Speaker 1: filmmakers would create elaborate backdrops to serve as a background. 217 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: And again that meant that you could shoot on a 218 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: sound stage, so you had your controlled environment and it 219 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: would cut back on a lot of things that could 220 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: potentially waste your time. You have to also remember in 221 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 1: the film days, you had a limited amount of film 222 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: that you had at your disposal, right, and if you 223 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: ran out a film, you would have to purchase more. 224 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: So you couldn't just shoot and shoot and not care 225 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,679 Speaker 1: whether or not it was working. You had to care 226 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: a lot because it directly related to how much money 227 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: you had to spend in order to make the movie. 228 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: So sound stages were preferred in many cases to shooting 229 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: on location because of that. So if you could create 230 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: a really detailed background that you know due to how 231 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,960 Speaker 1: the camera is going to focus on characters in the foreground, 232 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: it can pass as realistic. Right. You can have a 233 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,080 Speaker 1: painting in the background and it's fine. Uh. Some of 234 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: these backgrounds called mats were pretty convincing. Some we're not. 235 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 1: But a great matt painting is something that I always 236 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 1: enjoy seeing in a movie. And once in a while 237 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: you'll get a filmmaker that uses matt paintings today, typically 238 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,439 Speaker 1: because they want to evocus specific sort of reaction from 239 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: their audience. It's not not used as a common technique today. 240 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: It's almost more as a stylistic choice and the word 241 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: that would be used for a lot of different techniques 242 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: and equipment to achieve the goal of come binding image 243 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: elements from separate sources into a final image. We'll talk 244 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: about more of that after we come back from this 245 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: quick break, Okay. So ultimately, matts can be different things, 246 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: Like it could be a little bit confusing when you're 247 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: talking about mats in filmmaking because I don't know about you, 248 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 1: but I'm used to using a word to mean something specific, 249 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: and matt is usually used more as a way to 250 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: achieve a specific result. So a matt could be a 251 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: mask that sits on the camera that shields the film 252 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: from being exposed to light beyond a certain point. So, 253 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: in other words, it's it's like you're you're keeping a 254 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: blackout area so that film doesn't get exposed to light. 255 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: And then you're shooting another scene where it's the complementary scene, 256 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: the couple of mimmentary footage I guess I should say, 257 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: and has an opposite mask, right, It masks every anything 258 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: else and leaves open the part that had been covered 259 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: in the first mask. And then you combine these two 260 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:11,480 Speaker 1: sources of film together to create your final image. Uh, 261 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: here's an example. Let's say that you're shooting a scene 262 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: in which your hero is in an alley and their 263 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: back is against the brick wall of a shop, and 264 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: the hero is close to the corner of the front 265 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 1: of the shop, and so the way you positioned the camera, 266 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: you can see the hero in the shadows of this alley, 267 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: and you can also see on the you know what's 268 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: around the corner. And let's say you wanted a really 269 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: interesting shot of a foggy street. Well, you're brick building 270 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: is a facade that's inside the sound stage, and what 271 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: you've done is you've created an amazing Matt painting of 272 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 1: a foggy street. And so you've got a mask on 273 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: your camera that blocks everything that's around the corner of 274 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: the wall, so that you can fill it in with 275 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: something its later. And then you shoot a a shot 276 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: of the matt painting where you've got a mask that 277 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 1: blocks out where the brick wall would be and your hero, 278 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: and then you combine these two elements afterward to create 279 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: the actual finished effect where you have your hero against 280 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: the brick wall in the shade and the alley and 281 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: around the corner you see this foggy street. That's a 282 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: very super simple example. The mats in that case are static. 283 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: The camera is locked down. You can't move the camera 284 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: at all in that kind of shot. But let's say 285 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: that you do want to create a shot in which 286 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: people are moving, or maybe stuff in the background is 287 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: moving with relation to the people. Uh Like, Let's say 288 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: that you also want a shot where our hero is 289 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: stepping beyond the corner of the building to look down 290 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: this foggy street that doesn't actually exist in the sound stage, 291 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: or maybe you want the camera to be able to 292 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: move to pan and and dolly and that sort of off. Well, 293 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: in that case, you need what is called a traveling matt. 294 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: Also a shout out to those of you who are 295 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: familiar with Fraggle Rock. That show used a few different 296 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: technical film terms in it. Uncle traveling Matt was named 297 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,920 Speaker 1: after this particular thing in filmmaking. Gobo is another example, 298 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: but I digress. There are a couple of different approaches 299 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: to traveling mats. You know, it's not again just like 300 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: the word matt. There are multiple examples of it, but 301 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: the one that I referred to earlier was one where 302 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,199 Speaker 1: you use a green or a blue screen. And if 303 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: you're talking about traditionally in the old days of filmmaking, 304 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: it was typically a blue screen. This is called chroma keying, 305 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: and the basic idea is simple to understand from a 306 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: very high level, but it's actually really tricky to make 307 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,679 Speaker 1: it work properly in the film days in particular. So 308 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,199 Speaker 1: you take a solid color such as blue, and you 309 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,359 Speaker 1: use that to serve as the background as you're shooting 310 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: your principal action. You make sure none of your performers 311 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: have any closer props that are that color of blue 312 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 1: really blue at all if you can avoid it, and 313 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:11,639 Speaker 1: you film your actors in front of this blue screen, 314 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 1: and then you pair that with other footage that's meant 315 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 1: to be the background. It effectively replaces all the blue 316 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,680 Speaker 1: parts of the background with this other footage that you've 317 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: shot or created. Now, doing this was not easy back 318 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,120 Speaker 1: in the film days. To accomplish a traveling matt, you 319 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: had to shoot on three separate strips of film simultaneously. 320 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: One strip would be for red, one for blue, and 321 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: one for green. You would take the negative image for 322 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: the blue strip of film and the positive image for 323 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 1: the green strip of film to combine those to create 324 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: a solid matt. Then you could composite that with the 325 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,960 Speaker 1: background footage that have been shot against a separate blue screen, 326 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:51,439 Speaker 1: and these separate strips of film would be fed to 327 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 1: an optical printer to create the composite final image and 328 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,640 Speaker 1: the whole system you would be calling this keying out. 329 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: You'd be keying out in edges to replace with some 330 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: other footage. And it worked, but you typically could see 331 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 1: the effects on screen. Um, if people were really, really, 332 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: really meticulous about it, it was pretty effective. But largely 333 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,240 Speaker 1: you would look at this and think like, oh, no, 334 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: I know how they did that. I'm not necessarily completely 335 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: pulled out of the action. But depending on how bad 336 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: the effect was, it could do that. So you know what, 337 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: when you see it, there's this kind of there can 338 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: be a hard line between the borders of an actor 339 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: and the background, and you can tell that the people 340 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: who are in the scene aren't really in that environment, 341 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: whatever that environment might be. Now. Back in the day, 342 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,479 Speaker 1: movies that did use chroma key typically use blue screens 343 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,240 Speaker 1: because film itself has a blue emulsion layer in it. 344 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: And when the transition to digital cameras happened, there was 345 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: a switch to green screens, which were more effective with 346 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: digital cameras, and you could set up enormous green screens 347 00:19:57,359 --> 00:19:59,639 Speaker 1: outside even and not have to worry about the camera 348 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: catch blue sky and creating an opportunity for the chroma 349 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,080 Speaker 1: key process to bleed over um. In that case, obviously, 350 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: you don't want people wearing green stuff because it would 351 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,200 Speaker 1: be the same issue where the whatever the background footage 352 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: would be replacing the green on the character or proper whatever. 353 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,560 Speaker 1: Green screens gave filmmakers the chance to transport characters to 354 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: places that don't exist without having to actually build all 355 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,120 Speaker 1: the darn fantastical landscapes themselves. But as I mentioned earlier, 356 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: this also puts a burden on the actors as they 357 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: can't actually see whatever it is that's going to show 358 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: up in the final film. They have to imagine it. 359 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: That's not always easy when you're also trying to hit 360 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: your mark and say your lines in a way that's, 361 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: you know, good. And obviously the more unusual the location 362 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: or the characters that are surrounding you are, the more 363 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: it's asking the actor to use their imagination. And it 364 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:56,160 Speaker 1: could very well be that the actor is totally off 365 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,679 Speaker 1: base when they're imagining what the filmmaker is imagining. It 366 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: could that those two visions don't line up at all. 367 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,160 Speaker 1: It creates problems and chrome Mickee also has some limitations 368 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: that you have to light the shot really well or 369 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 1: else the effects won't look as good. And by well, 370 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,480 Speaker 1: I mean that that can limit how much you can 371 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:18,680 Speaker 1: play with light and shadow. So you can create incredible backdrops, 372 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 1: and you might not be able to to tell the 373 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: difference that you know that backdrop wasn't actually there, but 374 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: you might not be able to light the scene in 375 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:30,439 Speaker 1: a way that's really compelling. It is possible to do, 376 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: but it's pretty complicated because you have to very carefully 377 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: light your foreground and your background separately, and then you 378 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 1: have to keep in mind stuff like reflections and shadows. 379 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: It's just it's really hard to pull off, and it's 380 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:47,440 Speaker 1: very easy to make mistakes, and for the very keen 381 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,120 Speaker 1: eyed movie goers out there, those mistakes end up being obvious, 382 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: not not to me so much. I typically don't notice 383 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: unless it's unforgivably obvious. Now, what if you could combine 384 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: elements like background for action, traveling mats and a controlled 385 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: studio environment. What if your actors could actually see the amazing, 386 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: perhaps even entirely virtual locations that their characters in habit, 387 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,439 Speaker 1: which eliminates the need for them to rely solely on 388 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 1: their imaginations. What if you could leverage the benefits of 389 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:23,359 Speaker 1: computer generated environments and put real world actors, props, and 390 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: set pieces inside it. What if these environments were generating 391 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: light that could interact with the stuff that's really there 392 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,040 Speaker 1: in front of the camera, So you get reflections and 393 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: shades of light on the performers because it's not that 394 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 1: they've been virtually put into this environment, it's that the 395 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 1: environment is virtually around the actors. Here's where we get 396 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: to the volume and the A R wall. So these 397 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: are systems that use L E D screens, huge l 398 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:56,159 Speaker 1: E D screens, much much bigger than your television and 399 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: they are positioned around and above a studio area, and 400 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,920 Speaker 1: it creates a panoramic view that partially surrounds the actors 401 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: in a scene. So with the A R wall, it's 402 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: like a very large arc that also has a ceiling 403 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 1: with screens in it. Uh. If it's the volume, it 404 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,679 Speaker 1: ends up being almost a complete circle, also with a 405 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: ceiling that has led screens in it. So if you're 406 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:27,160 Speaker 1: familiar with the Star Trek Next Generation television program, then 407 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 1: you are also familiar with the holiod Deck. The Holid 408 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: Deck is a room aboard the starship Enterprise and presumably 409 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: other ships too, And in this Holid Deck you could 410 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 1: go in and the ship's computer would generate an entire 411 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: virtual world within that room, complete with illusions that you 412 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,879 Speaker 1: could sense beyond just seeing them. You could smell things, 413 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,679 Speaker 1: you could even pick stuff up, and if you were 414 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,400 Speaker 1: a Commander Riker, you could hit on ai generated women 415 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:56,959 Speaker 1: in a way that was totally creepy and weird and 416 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: definitely has not gotten better with age. Uh. Also, the 417 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: Holidack would malfunction in pretty much every other episode had 418 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: appeared in which left you wondering why anyone would ever 419 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,679 Speaker 1: go inside the darn thing. In the first place. But 420 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,720 Speaker 1: the point being the holidack would create this virtual environment 421 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: around you so that you had this immersive experience. Well, 422 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: the volume and the A R wall are kind of 423 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: like the holidack, but obviously with huge limitations, Like the 424 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,400 Speaker 1: holidack could move stuff around. Uh, it could adjust things 425 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: so that people were not gonna walk into a wall. 426 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,959 Speaker 1: Somehow they always happen to know where the wall was. 427 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: I don't know how that happened, because it looks like 428 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: you're in this you know, immersive environment. But anyway, you 429 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: wouldn't walk into a wall. You could actually pick things 430 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 1: up because this virtual world could you know, replicate stuff 431 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 1: so that there were physical things for you to contact. Obviously, 432 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: we can't do that in our real world, and we're 433 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: not at a point where we can, you know, manipulate 434 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: the environment in such a way that you never get 435 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 1: to the edge. You will eventually get to the edge, 436 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:09,359 Speaker 1: because that's how reality works. So on a base level, 437 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 1: what is going on is that these systems are projecting complex, dynamic, 438 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 1: and immersive backgrounds. Now, all three of those things are important, right, 439 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: They are complicated backgrounds. It's not just a simple green screen. 440 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: Although they can do that too. They are dynamic in 441 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 1: the sense that it doesn't have to be just a 442 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:32,480 Speaker 1: static background. It's not like a matte painting. It can 443 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,720 Speaker 1: have It can incorporate moving things that you could have 444 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: shot other footage and use that projected within these environments. 445 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: So if you wanted to, you could film extras milling around, 446 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: you know, a medieval battleground after a war has been fought, 447 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: and then just use that as background against the action 448 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: of your characters in the foreground if you wanted to. 449 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:01,680 Speaker 1: This has some obvious benefits. One is that you don't 450 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,520 Speaker 1: need to go shoot on location and a world WARLD 451 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: travel restrictions can pop up quickly due to stuff like 452 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: COVID and now monkey pocks. That's a huge asset to 453 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 1: a production company because just think for a moment about 454 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: the logistics that are required for you to shoot on location, 455 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: particularly if you want to shoot someplace that's remote and 456 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: maybe in another country, because you want a place that 457 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 1: doesn't have as much, uh, you know, identifiable landmarks that 458 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: are on on site. You because you want to create 459 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: this illusion of this this world, whether it's fantasy world, 460 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:42,640 Speaker 1: science fiction, whatever it might be. Well, just getting access 461 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 1: to that location, getting the gear and the crew and 462 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: the cast all to the right place. All of that 463 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: requires huge amounts of work, their entire production departments dedicated 464 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,359 Speaker 1: to making that happen. Then once you get there, you 465 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: might have to worry about stuff like weather and lighting 466 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: and all that. So in a controlled studio environment, you 467 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,120 Speaker 1: don't have those issues. Right as long as people are 468 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: testing clear so they're not, you know, coming down with 469 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: COVID or anything like that, then you're good to go 470 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,199 Speaker 1: and you don't have to worry about relocating everybody halfway 471 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:17,679 Speaker 1: around the world. And of course a huge issue is 472 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: that it starts to bring elements of pre production, production 473 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,920 Speaker 1: and post production together in one environment. I cannot stress 474 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 1: what a huge change this is for filmmaking because it 475 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,800 Speaker 1: means that ultimately you don't need as much time to 476 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: complete a project. And y'all time is money. So if 477 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:45,040 Speaker 1: you have a system where you can design and then 478 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: project a a background onto these screens that your actors 479 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:54,359 Speaker 1: can actually see, that the camera can see that, you 480 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:57,840 Speaker 1: don't even have to change for it to appear. As 481 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: as camera ready, it's it's to go, and then say 482 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: the director says I want to change things. It gives 483 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,720 Speaker 1: you the opportunity to do that, so you can actually 484 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: do visualization really close to production. And because those effects 485 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,239 Speaker 1: are already there, and the lighting effects and everything are 486 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,040 Speaker 1: already there, it reduces the amount of work you need 487 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: to do in post production. That's phenomenal. Now, obviously this 488 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: still requires a ton of work. It's it's not like 489 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,439 Speaker 1: it just all magically happens. You have to create the 490 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: background images. That's I'm going to require a lot of work, 491 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: both from an artistic point of view and a technical one. Uh. 492 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: And it's not just that these environments can show digital 493 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 1: images and act kind of like an LED version of 494 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 1: a Matt painting. Uh. The A R wall in particular, 495 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 1: has a really cool feature in it in which only 496 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,240 Speaker 1: sections of the wall that are in view of the 497 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: camera are creating high resolution output. And and that's a 498 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:59,719 Speaker 1: very clever solution. So just imagine that this is how 499 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 1: the old works. For a second, imagine that whenever you 500 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: look around, only the stuff that's actually within your frame 501 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: of you is well defined. In other words, the stuff 502 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,280 Speaker 1: that you see in focus is the only stuff that's 503 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: in focus in the world. It's whatever you're looking at. 504 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,800 Speaker 1: Anything you're not looking at, like anything that's outside your 505 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: frame of you is more hazy until you turn to 506 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: look at it, at which point it instantly appears in 507 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: clear focus. Now you can argue that the real world 508 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: doesn't behave this way, But a philosopher would ask, are 509 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: you sure about that? Are you are you absolutely sure 510 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: about that? Or is it just that every time you 511 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 1: look around the world snaps into focus and everything else 512 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: kind of fades into this fuzziness. Well, that's the way 513 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: the the A R wall works with a relation to cameras. 514 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: I'll explain why that's really cool and important after we 515 00:29:54,280 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: come back from this quick break. Okay, so we have 516 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,600 Speaker 1: seen this approach of making sure that only the thing 517 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 1: that's within focus, that that that's being looked at is 518 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: within focus, I guess I should say is important. We've 519 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,000 Speaker 1: seen that in the past. So, for example, VR engineers 520 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: will often create headsets and software in which the stuff 521 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 1: that is appearing directly in front of a person's eyes 522 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: is in high resolution, but the stuff that's at the edges, 523 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,840 Speaker 1: you know, in the peripheral view of the user, can 524 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:36,080 Speaker 1: be in lower resolution. Because that's how our eyes work, 525 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: that's how our vision works. That saves on compute power 526 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 1: and it means that more resources can go to producing 527 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 1: other stuff like a high frame rate. For example, if 528 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 1: you're not looking at it, then it doesn't need to 529 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,520 Speaker 1: be in high resolution, it doesn't even have to be 530 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,840 Speaker 1: rendered at all. So the same can be true for 531 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,600 Speaker 1: the A R wall. The way they do this is 532 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: that they pair tons of sensors together so that they 533 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,280 Speaker 1: can know where the camera is pointing at any moment. 534 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 1: And by no, I mean like the system is aware 535 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: of where the camera is looking at. It's not a 536 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: human who's doing this. So each camera, like production camera, 537 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:15,840 Speaker 1: the camera that people are using to shoot an episode 538 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,400 Speaker 1: of Star Trek for example, has mounted on top of 539 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: it a frame, and that frame holds some little spheres 540 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: on it, which act is kind of like an orientation 541 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 1: key for the camera sensors that are incorporated all around 542 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: the A R wall. So these are little things that 543 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: get can be digitally erased in production, but they are 544 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 1: at all these different points within the A R wall frame. 545 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 1: Those sensors are all picking up that that little series 546 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: of orientation spheres that are mounted onto the cameras, and 547 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 1: by interpreting the angles, a computer system knows where that 548 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: camera is pointed at. Any given time and thus can 549 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:06,120 Speaker 1: dedicate the resources needed to generate high resolution for just 550 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: the frame of vi for that camera. It's incredible compute 551 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 1: power to do this right, to be able to detect 552 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 1: where the camera's pointed, you know, how far in is 553 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: it zoomed? How much of the screen do you need 554 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 1: to bring into sharp focus? But that's how it works. 555 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 1: And as you move the camera around you see this. 556 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 1: You could see the images on the the led walls 557 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,600 Speaker 1: come into you know, tighter focus or fade if the 558 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:37,960 Speaker 1: camera has just moved away from them. It's pretty trippy 559 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 1: to watch. And the backgrounds can actually move with the 560 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,080 Speaker 1: camera to which helps create the illusion that there's something 561 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 1: definitely back there as opposed to a flat image. And 562 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:52,240 Speaker 1: this kind of relates to something that's called motion parallax. Now, 563 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 1: first let's just talk about parallax in general. So, assuming 564 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: that you have vision in both eyes, you experience parallax. 565 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: And what parallaxes is the apparent difference in position of 566 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 1: an object along different lines of sight. Now that's a 567 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 1: fancy way of saying that where something appears to be 568 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: changes depending upon your point of view. If you were 569 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 1: to hold your finger up in front of your face 570 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:19,480 Speaker 1: and close one eye and look at your finger, and 571 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: then you close the open eye and open the closed eye. 572 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: It would look like your finger had changed positions, right, 573 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: because you're looking at it from your other eye, which 574 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,760 Speaker 1: is obviously not in the same physical position as I 575 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: number one. You know, our eyes are are located side 576 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 1: by side, So if we do that, if we switch 577 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: back and forth, closing one eye and opening the other, 578 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:42,479 Speaker 1: it'll seem as if our finger is jumping back and 579 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 1: forth between two different positions. It's not really doing that, obviously, 580 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:50,120 Speaker 1: that's just what you're seeing based upon that particular line 581 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 1: of sight, and our brains combine these two lines of 582 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:57,200 Speaker 1: sight to create the image that we use to kind 583 00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 1: of interpret the world around us and to do things 584 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 1: like get an idea of how far away an object is. 585 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:08,239 Speaker 1: For example. Now, motion parallax is slightly different. Imagine that 586 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:12,760 Speaker 1: you've got two characters, one who is closer to the camera, 587 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 1: one who is further back. And let's say that they're 588 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:18,360 Speaker 1: both walking from the left side of camera view to 589 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: the right side, and they're both walking at the same speed. Well, 590 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:25,080 Speaker 1: the person in front will cross the frame faster because 591 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,600 Speaker 1: they're closer to us. Than the person who's further behind. 592 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:33,120 Speaker 1: So this also applies if you're moving the camera and 593 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,600 Speaker 1: the various components are standing still. If the person in 594 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:37,840 Speaker 1: the foreground and the person in the background are standing 595 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:42,840 Speaker 1: still and you're handing the camera across, then the person 596 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,279 Speaker 1: in front is going to cross the frame much faster. Right. 597 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: This is stuff that we intuitively know because it's how 598 00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:52,160 Speaker 1: we experience the world around us. Well, when you're creating 599 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 1: a digital system that is standing in for a real background, 600 00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:00,600 Speaker 1: sometimes you've gotta move stuff around and cheat in order 601 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: for this impression to be realistic and immersive. So you 602 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:09,880 Speaker 1: can actually have the camera's movements and the backgrounds movements 603 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: choreographed together, so that as you're moving the camera around, 604 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: the background is actually moving slightly to in order to 605 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:19,360 Speaker 1: get the right effect. That's something you cannot do with 606 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:22,560 Speaker 1: a Matt painting, obviously, because a Matt painting is just 607 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,080 Speaker 1: going to be that static image forever and ever. Now, 608 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 1: another benefit of this technology is, like I said, it 609 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 1: provides lighting for a scene. So if a character like 610 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:35,399 Speaker 1: say the Mandalorian, is inside an environment that has lots 611 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:39,759 Speaker 1: of lights all around, the lights from the screen will 612 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:44,360 Speaker 1: reflect on the Mandalorian's shiny best car armor, so it 613 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,400 Speaker 1: creates a more immersive, realistic effect. If you have a 614 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,560 Speaker 1: close up on the Mandalorian's helmet as he's sitting in 615 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 1: his spaceship and he's going into uh To, you know, 616 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:59,920 Speaker 1: hyper speed, well you'll see the reflections off his hell 617 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: because they're actually projecting that hyperspeed imagery all around the 618 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:10,600 Speaker 1: set that has been built inside the volume. And again 619 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: you don't have to do that in post. It's created 620 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:15,319 Speaker 1: right there in the camera shot. This is stuff that 621 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,279 Speaker 1: typically you would have to add afterward, but you have 622 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:21,880 Speaker 1: removed that step by including it in the moment when 623 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:25,040 Speaker 1: you're actually shooting the scene. Now, to make all of 624 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:27,800 Speaker 1: this happen, there have to be these big old computer 625 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:31,080 Speaker 1: systems in the background calculating things like the angle of 626 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:34,560 Speaker 1: view of the camera, the motion of the camera, how 627 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 1: the motion of the background should match that. And obviously 628 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:40,279 Speaker 1: you have to actually create the assets that are going 629 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,600 Speaker 1: to be on display on those screens. That might be 630 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,800 Speaker 1: computer generated assets, in which case you have artists creating 631 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:50,839 Speaker 1: these things, building them in virtual engines which then get 632 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:55,520 Speaker 1: rendered onto the screens. Alternatively, you might incorporate some old 633 00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:58,520 Speaker 1: school stuff like miniature work that's been mapped to a 634 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:01,239 Speaker 1: digital background that then it's projected onto these l e 635 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,920 Speaker 1: D screens or by these LED screens. I say projected on, 636 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,759 Speaker 1: it's really by because the the images coming from the 637 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 1: l e ED is not being projected onto them. Or 638 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:14,920 Speaker 1: you might include camera footage from real locations and again 639 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:18,160 Speaker 1: that could be mapped onto the screens. So the first 640 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,719 Speaker 1: generation volume, the one that was used in Star Wars 641 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,640 Speaker 1: projects like the first season of The Mandalorian, was a 642 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:28,839 Speaker 1: seventy five ft diameter twenty one ft tall environment. They 643 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: used the Unreal game Engine for initial pre viz. That's 644 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:37,160 Speaker 1: pre visualization and design, and I think that's pretty darn cool. 645 00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:39,600 Speaker 1: It's really neat to see filmmakers leverage a tool that 646 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:43,000 Speaker 1: was meant for game development and use it to create 647 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:47,359 Speaker 1: film sets, digital virtual film sets that then could be 648 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:51,560 Speaker 1: displayed on these these screens. Obviously, there are a lot 649 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:56,160 Speaker 1: of other software packages, many of which were specifically created 650 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:59,320 Speaker 1: for the filmmaking industry, many of them created by Industrial 651 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:03,280 Speaker 1: Light and Magic itself, which is the entity that created 652 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:07,319 Speaker 1: the Volume UM in order to create the graphics that 653 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 1: are seen within these environments and ultimately on the final product. 654 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:15,840 Speaker 1: Whether that's a film or series. The volume used seven 655 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:18,840 Speaker 1: machines to create the compute power to provide the graphics 656 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,960 Speaker 1: and dynamics necessary to make it all work for that 657 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:24,960 Speaker 1: season one. For the second season, the Mandalorian Industrial Light 658 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:29,680 Speaker 1: and Magic created Stagecraft two point oh and Stagecraft two 659 00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:33,240 Speaker 1: point oh handles rendering and projection along with the software 660 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:36,239 Speaker 1: and hardware that makes it all work together, and it 661 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,759 Speaker 1: also works with other products like Helios, which is a 662 00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:43,200 Speaker 1: video rendering and lighting package specifically made for the film industry. 663 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,680 Speaker 1: Beyond that, the nature of the technology means that changes 664 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:51,120 Speaker 1: can be made relatively quickly. I mean, computer generated assets 665 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 1: can be manipulated. So if you are looking at a 666 00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:58,600 Speaker 1: background and you think, you know, I wish that mountain 667 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:00,960 Speaker 1: were larger, you could actually make the mountain larger. It's 668 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,680 Speaker 1: a digital asset. You can change the shape and size 669 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,400 Speaker 1: of it. So they can be enlarged, they can be shrunk, 670 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:09,799 Speaker 1: they can be repositioned, changed in various ways, all near 671 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:14,279 Speaker 1: real time. Like it's not it's not instantaneous, but it's 672 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:18,200 Speaker 1: super fast. So if a cinematographer gets in the space 673 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:21,400 Speaker 1: and they see the virtual background, they say, you know what, 674 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,120 Speaker 1: that craggy tree would actually look better if we put 675 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,919 Speaker 1: it closer to this little hill over here, it will 676 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:31,719 Speaker 1: make my shot really work. Then people working on the 677 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:35,799 Speaker 1: film can actually jump in onto the virtual environment, make 678 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:39,560 Speaker 1: those changes, and then project the new version of it 679 00:39:39,719 --> 00:39:43,640 Speaker 1: within minutes, as opposed to this being something that takes 680 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:49,560 Speaker 1: days or weeks to do and post. Now, these capabilities 681 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:52,880 Speaker 1: still do have their limitations. While the areas inside the 682 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:55,719 Speaker 1: volume and the A R wall are are pretty large, 683 00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,000 Speaker 1: you still do have walls, just like the enterprise is 684 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:01,280 Speaker 1: holiday and there's no way for a computer to shift 685 00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:04,400 Speaker 1: people inside those environments so that they don't have to 686 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:08,000 Speaker 1: worry about that. And for that reason, it could be 687 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:12,239 Speaker 1: a little challenging to choreograph like epic action sequences within 688 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,719 Speaker 1: these still limited spaces, and you might have seen some 689 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:20,320 Speaker 1: recent examples of action scenes I'm thinking specifically of the 690 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:23,759 Speaker 1: Book of Boba Fette that didn't quite live up to 691 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:29,319 Speaker 1: the term epic. These led background environments represent powerful new 692 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:32,239 Speaker 1: tools for filmmakers, but just like other tools like three 693 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:35,160 Speaker 1: D and c g I, they have to be used 694 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:41,600 Speaker 1: properly to contribute to the experience of watching a series 695 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:45,040 Speaker 1: or watching a film, rather than detract from them. I 696 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:48,000 Speaker 1: think that the volume and the A R wall both 697 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:51,959 Speaker 1: give filmmakers some of the same tool sets that people 698 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:55,279 Speaker 1: who have been working in in c G animation have 699 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:57,680 Speaker 1: had at their disposal forever. So if you look at 700 00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:00,640 Speaker 1: Pixar and the way they create films, the way they 701 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:04,120 Speaker 1: create virtual environments, a lot of the same tools that 702 00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:06,520 Speaker 1: they are using are the ones that we're now seeing 703 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:11,399 Speaker 1: used in live action filmmaking. At the point where you're 704 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:14,600 Speaker 1: actually shooting and where those elements are there, now, you 705 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:17,840 Speaker 1: don't have all the advantages that you would with c G. 706 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:22,360 Speaker 1: So Pixar, for example, they could technically create a camera 707 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:24,440 Speaker 1: that could do all sorts of things that a physical 708 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,600 Speaker 1: camera never could, right, they are not limited by the 709 00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:30,120 Speaker 1: rules of real world physics when it comes to that. 710 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:35,480 Speaker 1: Pixar doesn't typically do that because they learned very quickly 711 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:41,640 Speaker 1: that if you start violating basic rules, uh, audiences get 712 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:45,200 Speaker 1: pulled out of the action because they say, like, well, 713 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:49,440 Speaker 1: that's impossible. It's it's you have to work somewhat within 714 00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:53,600 Speaker 1: the rules in order for it to to work for audiences. 715 00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:57,040 Speaker 1: But it doesn't matter for the volume more for the 716 00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:00,800 Speaker 1: A R wall, because in both cases you're still using 717 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:05,640 Speaker 1: real physical cameras to shoot real physical people the background images. 718 00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:08,799 Speaker 1: You could mess with that, but then that doesn't make 719 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:12,000 Speaker 1: a whole less sense either unless you're doing something really trippy, 720 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:15,800 Speaker 1: like I could see maybe a future Doctor Strange movie 721 00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:18,920 Speaker 1: using that sort of thing to kind of be mind 722 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:23,480 Speaker 1: bindy and create something that is absolutely impossible, and yet 723 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:25,200 Speaker 1: the actors who are there would be able to see 724 00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:28,560 Speaker 1: it and react to it. Um, that is something where 725 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,160 Speaker 1: I could see that work. But otherwise, what I think 726 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:33,600 Speaker 1: is really cool is that it does give those tools 727 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:37,719 Speaker 1: that that c G animators have had at their disposal 728 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:43,399 Speaker 1: forever and put it into real live action filmmaking, as 729 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:46,320 Speaker 1: well as that whole concept of bringing pre and post 730 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:50,600 Speaker 1: production closer to production itself so that you are able 731 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:53,520 Speaker 1: to make these decisions. Directors can focus more on getting 732 00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:58,600 Speaker 1: the performance they want and not worry as much about 733 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,160 Speaker 1: whether or not it's going to the way they imagined 734 00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:03,920 Speaker 1: once you finally get all the effects added in, because 735 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 1: that's that's the big issue with like shooting against screen screen. 736 00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:09,760 Speaker 1: You might have an idea in your head what's supposed 737 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:13,440 Speaker 1: to look like, but until all the effects departments have 738 00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:17,759 Speaker 1: put in their work and then keyed out the the 739 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:20,800 Speaker 1: shots that you got on set with all the green screens, 740 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:24,120 Speaker 1: you don't really know. I would argue that that perhaps 741 00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:27,360 Speaker 1: is one reason why I find the third act of 742 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:31,640 Speaker 1: most Marvel films to be really messy, Like they just 743 00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:35,800 Speaker 1: look too chaotic and video game ish for me almost 744 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:41,200 Speaker 1: every case. So I feel like these sorts of tools 745 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,040 Speaker 1: could potentially help with that. But then you also have 746 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:47,600 Speaker 1: to remember you have to work within the constraints of 747 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:51,600 Speaker 1: the space. You know, you can't go beyond the borders 748 00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:54,719 Speaker 1: of the volume or the A R wall or else 749 00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:58,280 Speaker 1: you lose the benefit of those and you break immersion. Anyway, 750 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:03,839 Speaker 1: Still really cool, really interesting to see how this convergence 751 00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:08,160 Speaker 1: of technologies, from the super high resolution LED screens that 752 00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:13,520 Speaker 1: are capable of making backgrounds that don't look like they're screens, 753 00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:16,480 Speaker 1: like it looks like these are real locations, all the 754 00:44:16,520 --> 00:44:20,600 Speaker 1: way to the real time computation of measuring things like 755 00:44:20,719 --> 00:44:26,080 Speaker 1: camera angle and displaying the differences in the background in 756 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:30,000 Speaker 1: real time so that you get the the realistic effects 757 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 1: you want. All of that is phenomenal to me. There are, 758 00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:36,840 Speaker 1: by the way, production features on both the A R 759 00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:40,080 Speaker 1: wall and on the volume that you can find online. 760 00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:42,839 Speaker 1: I recommend if you're interested in these, you watch them 761 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:45,239 Speaker 1: because that will give you a little more information. They 762 00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:48,840 Speaker 1: come across a bit marketing ish to me, especially the volume, 763 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:51,440 Speaker 1: because it's really industrial light and magic saying hey, we 764 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:54,279 Speaker 1: got this cool tool. If you're making a movie, call us, 765 00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:57,719 Speaker 1: But it does give you more insight into what they 766 00:44:57,719 --> 00:45:01,720 Speaker 1: are doing and why it's important. Anyway, thank you Bronson 767 00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:04,040 Speaker 1: for your request. If any of you out there have 768 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:06,920 Speaker 1: a subject that you would like me to tackle, you 769 00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:08,279 Speaker 1: can get in touch with me and let me know. 770 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:10,120 Speaker 1: There are a couple of ways doing that. One is 771 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:13,600 Speaker 1: you can hop on over to the I Heart Radio app. 772 00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:17,120 Speaker 1: It's free to download. Navigate over to the tech Stuff podcast. 773 00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:19,600 Speaker 1: There's a little microphone icon there. You can leave a 774 00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:22,960 Speaker 1: thirty second message for me and let me know that way, 775 00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:27,279 Speaker 1: or you can always pop over onto Twitter use the 776 00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:29,680 Speaker 1: handle tech stuff hs W to leave your request like 777 00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:32,319 Speaker 1: Bronson did. And I look forward to seeing those and 778 00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:41,080 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff is 779 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:44,239 Speaker 1: an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my 780 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:47,920 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 781 00:45:48,080 --> 00:45:50,080 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.