The Official Bulletin - Quarter 2, 2019

MOTION PICTURE
The King Kong of the motion picture industry goes by
the name of “The Volume” because it uses a new technology
known as “volumetric capture.”
“The Volume utilizes game engine technology to display
live video in a dome,” said International Vice President and Department
Director for Motion Picture and TV Production Michael
F. Miller, Jr. “It’s a 360-degree LED dome that works like
an electronic green screen with the images already projected
onto it, and the actors, directors and crew can see the background
as they film.
“If you’re filming a scene in the cockpit of a spaceship, the
LED wall displays the remainder of the spaceship and the quality
of the picture is such that it’s impossible to tell you’re not
actually in a complete spaceship,” Miller explained. “The actor
and the scenery move together in real time.”
The Volume has become so popular, virtually all of the major
motion picture studios either have opened one or announced
plans to do so. Sony, for example, will open its Innovation Studios
using the same technology this fall. And other players are
getting involved. Intel Studios has opened what it calls “the
world’s largest, most advanced volumetric video capture and
creation facility” at 10,000 square feet.
“The quality of the image is so good now, you cannot tell
the difference between a scene filmed in The Volume and a
scene filmed on location,” said Scott Bernard, Business Agent
of Local 695 Audio and Video Engineers in Los Angeles, noting
that it not only works for science fiction, but for any production
meant to be anywhere on Earth.
“You can take 1,200 individual stills from a location, load
them into a computer, and then display the meshed images on
a 360 degree wall and ceiling,” Bernard said. “You can make it
day or night as you wish. The cameras can capture any angle.
And as the camera moves, the images behind the actors move
with it. Unlike a green screen, it gives the actors the environment
to react to and create their own reality.”
This makes it possible to set a scene in Venice, the Himalayas,
the Sahara or anywhere else while shooting in a dome in
Los Angeles and viewers will not be able to tell the difference.
The impact on film crews’ work is significant. “This is the
ongoing evolution of the Process Shot, which has been around
for decades,” Bernard said. “You don’t have to spend money
in post to recreate a scenic background and develop a composite
image, because you’re doing it all in one take as you’re
shooting. I don’t think this will replace all location shooting or
green screen production, but it’s another tool that gives the
director and producer extra flexibility.”
The extent to which The Volume will come to dominate film
production is unclear at this point. “Some employers think it
will save time and money because they don’t have to take a
full crew to a location,” he said. “They think they can hire fewer
people. And it’s a more controlled environment. But I’m not so
sure. I think it’s going to create new technical jobs. The video
and engineering demands fall right into IATSE’s wheelhouse.
IA Video Engineers have vast experience with video playback,
front and rear projection, video walls and green screen technology,
all of which lends itself to what is needed for volumetric
capture.
“So we’re doing two things,” he noted. “One is we’re being
vigilant with our employers to ensure that all the new technological
work falls under IATSE jurisdiction. And we’re being
proactive about training to ensure our members are up to
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