Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg Campus Magazin 23/24

in Europe‘s largest virtual production studio, the Hyperbowl
in Penzing, 50 kilometres west of Munich. In
four days, the elaborate set was built up under high pressure
and then, after over 30 shots had been filmed, taken
down again. This demanded highly efficient and concentrated
work from the 50-strong team, who quickly
got to grips with each other. In the LED studio we also
shot a transition in which the sunset mountain panorama
darkens and the surroundings around the mountain
plateau turn into a foggy and cold landscape. Here, the
use of virtual production technology and the in-camera
captured light and environment changes reduced the
VFX effort considerably.
A few days later we faced the next hurdle: The set of
the dojo ruin, which had been dismantled under high
pressure, including the floor, was shipped from Penzing
to Ludwigsburg and then had to be rebuilt identically
in the Albrecht-Ade sound stage. There we wanted to
capture the fight scene plot within the darkened world
in a second shooting block. At the beginning of February,
this second shooting block took place in Ludwigsburg
and the previously choreographed and rehearsed
fight scenes were shot. The basic atmosphere was created
with the help of fog and foam particles. Inspired
by anime productions, wirework (a special effects technique
in which actors hang from ropes and seem to fly
during fight scenes) was also used. In some scenes, it
was to support the movements of the stunt performers
beyond the natural level. In this shooting block, too, we
managed to shoot all the scenes without any accidents or
delay despite the tight schedule and complex fight choreographies.
Particular attention was paid to seamlessly
integrate the transition previously shot in the LED studio
with appropriate lighting and atmosphere.
Now that the demanding shooting and editing phase has
been successfully completed, the sound, music and grading
will be added in autumn 2023. The VFX scenes will
be completed by December so that the project is finished
by the end of the year and can be submitted to festivals
in 2024.
As the director, I would like to thank the entire team
for their strong and professional effort, as well as the
Animationsinstitut and the lecturers and mentors for
their great support, which made the realization of this
challenging short story possible.
by Matthias Schaudig
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