Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg Campus Magazin 23/24

SET EXTENSION WORKSHOP
Currently, Virtual Production is certainly generating
a lot of hype. Which is cool, because shooting in
an LED studio is an incredibly exciting experience, and
you can create some truly amazing things there. However,
what‘s often overlooked
is the need to question when
and how the technology makes
sense. Whenever something is
meant to be fancy, the immediate
response is, ‘Oh, let's shoot
it in the LED studio.’ But the
fact that some things might not
work or look good, that VP isn‘t
a one-size-fits-all solution that
solves all problems, is not well
understood by many at the moment. This is especially
true in advertising; in the case of feature films, in my experience,
there tends to be a better understanding.
Is the correct application of LED Set Extension
one of the goals of the workshop then?
Absolutely, I think it‘s important to be aware of the limitations
of VP technology and to plan it carefully. In the
industry, as far as I can tell, there are few people who
understand and can execute Virtual Productions across
various disciplines. Based on my experience from shoots
I‘ve been a part of, the director and cinematographer often
thought they could achieve anything with VP, but
in the end, a lot of retouching and post-work was necessary.
The students of the SEW are meant to do a better
job at this later on?
It's important to me that Virtual Production, like any
new technology, is seen in a nuanced
light, and that its applications
are used appropriately.
That's the main goal of the SEW
for me. By the end of the workshop,
the students should be
able to say, "Ah yes, that worked
well. It looked great, and this is
how it can be used." For this to
happen, they need to, for example,
understand how to set
up a studio to achieve seamless integration, know which
camera movements make sense, learn what kind of shots
are feasible, and grasp how to address the lighting limitations
of the technology, as well as the challenges posed
by the floor and ceiling.
But classic VFX techniques also play a role in the
SEW, right?
Absolutely, it's also about knowing when something
doesn’t work as well with VP and when it's better to do it
in a classic way, using greenscreen or traditional set extension.
We’ll be working and experimenting with both.
How will the course be structured for this purpose
this year?
Which is actually not the whole point of it. After
all, VP is meant to streamline the post-production
process...
Exactly, people are using it to shoot in order to save
money by creating multiple sets in one location. But if
everything ends up in a post-production mess, then it‘s
not worth it. With this technology, it‘s crucial to put a
lot of thought into it and make preparations beforehand.
Often, I get booked, and it's like, ‘Hey, we‘re shooting tomorrow,
are you coming to the LED studio?‘ And then I
arrive, and nothing is planned, there's no previs or techvis
– and that just won't work. I‘ve worked on sets where
100 percent of the LED content had to be replaced later
because the results were unsatisfactory.
At the beginning, we have instructional blocks that are
less experimental and more theoretical. The focus here
is on acquiring the necessary know-how. Then we have
the shooting days in the studio when the LED wall is
set up. During this time, the goal is to conduct tests,
such as with camera and lighting setups. Essentially, the
new SEW places emphasis on playful experimentation,
both with greenscreen and VP. We do a lot of hands-on
work, using examples, but we’re very open to students’
own ideas about design, as long as they are feasible. Our
main objective is to ensure that the students have encountered
all the challenges that they might face on a
set in the future.
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