From Concept to Screen: Virtual Production in Film and Television

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I met Bryn Morrow while colour grading television commercials shot on a volume stage at Steelbridge Studio in Brisbane, Australia. Interestingly, I didn’t realize until the resizes were removed from a shot that the commercial hadn’t been shot ‘in real life’ but on a stage.

Once I started looking critically, I found opportunities to enhance the scene’s realism. As this is a new and rapidly developing technology, I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to speak with Bryn and understand the methodology and challenges of this medium.

Bryn is a VFX Supervisor based out of Queensland, Australia. His training and experience as a Cinematographer, combined with his expertise as a VFX and CG Supervisor, provides a unique insight into live-action production and VFX workflows. Some of his film credits include:

- Prometheus
- The Power of the Dog
- Land of Bad
- Captain America

In this interview, Bryn discusses virtual production on a volume stage. He specifically describes the workflow and relationship between post production and colour grading, how colour grading can be incorporated into the process, and what to look for when grading virtual production.

00:00:00 Introduction And Background
00:01:26 What Is A Volume?
00:06:24 Creating Environments In The Volume
00:13:27 Aligning The Digital And Real World
00:19:19 Steel Bridge Studios And Virtual Production In Australia
00:25:33 Virtual Production Adoption Challenges And Cost Structure
00:28:50 Pre-Visualization And Digital Scouting
00:32:02 Depth Of Field Constraints And Lens Constraints
00:32:53 Collaboration With DPs
00:37:42 Color Pipeline
00:39:25 Challenges Of LED Panel Colour Management
00:42:42 Linear Workflow
00:45:53 Color Grading In Virtual Production
00:50:59 Is There A Role For Colourists?
00:58:15 Kalie’s Experience Grading A Volume
01:00:54 What Happens In The Brain Bar
01:02:32 Brain Bar: Challenges Tracking The Virtual Camera
01:04:27 Brain Bar: Virtual Art Department Supervisor
01:06:04 Bryn’s Interactions With The Brain Bar
01:07:45 Bryn’s Background And Expertise
01:14:05 Understanding Where Virtual Productions Make Sense
01:16:08 The Role Of Colorists In Virtual Production
01:23:30 Improvements In Panel Technology
01:25:41 New Subframe Tech Generating Mattes For The Colourist
01:30:26 Closing Remarks