We are Hive Division,
we are a VFX studio and we hate green screen.
Of course like everyone else working in this field
we've been using green and blue screen since forever.
It's not like we enjoyed throwing actors and directors
inside that green vacuum
and forcing them to pretend like something's actually there.
It was alienating for them, it was torture. And we knew it.
We first had a taste of the solution last year
when we took care of the visual effects of "Il talento del Calabrone",
a film directed by Giacomo Cimini and produced by Paco Cinematografica.
We created the illusion
of the shooting actually taking place on top of a Milan's skyscraper
by first shooting the actual footage on location
and then projecting the plates onto the filming stage
thanks to an array of video projectors.
This experience proved all the benefits
of finally getting rid of green screen.
Unfortunately, projecting pre-rendered images or videos
still leaves you with some limitations.
Even a small amount of parallax can quickly dispel the illusion.
So for the past year
we have been studying ways of using Unreal Engine
to project a background rendered in real time time
based on camera position,
and using LED walls instead of projectors,
in order to achieve enough brightness to
potentially reproduce any kind of environment.
And then, as it usually happens in our field,
ILM did it first with "The Mandalorian"
which applies the very same technology
to spectacular results.
We had to organize a test
on a slightly bigger scale than we did before.
So we teamed up with 3P,
our partner company who specializes in audiovisual solutions,
and we decided to set the scene
in the same world of our latest short film "La Fiamma".
The technology is based on three different phases.
Firstly, with a motion capture system
you detect the 3D position of the camera on stage.
Then you use those 3D coordinates to determine
how the environment would look
into the field of view of different LED walls
as seen from the perspective of the camera.
And finally you have those rendered images
projected on the LED walls.
And all of this must happen
faster than the camera can record a single frame.
We're only scraping the surface of what this technology can do.
The benefits are countless.
The subject is completely immersed
in the same kind of surrounding and immersive light
you will get from a real location.
You need a six hour sunset?
Coming right up.
Director, actors and artists are immersed in an environment
they can interact and play with.
Place markers onto props or actors
and they can influence the lighting.
Place your actor in a car,
connect his gas pedal and steering wheel to the game engine,
and he can drive you through the scene.
No need to send a 50 men circus around the globe anymore.
Now you can send over a couple of photographers,
scan the place, and recreate its 3D digital double.
3D elements can be added, removed or changed
according to the Director's wishes.
All can be done inside a single filming stage.
Many people can work in VR from home.
If COVID gets back, ordinary sets stop.
Virtual ones have built-in resilience.
A careful planning gets you
90% of the shots completed on camera.
Need to shoot more scenes?
The virtual location is there, unchanged and ready for you.
All of this was unthinkable just a few years ago.
Then Unreal Engine 4 made it possible.
You want to see what Unreal Engine 5 looks like?
This technique is bound to change everything
in the film and tv industry.
It started with massive productions such as "The Mandalorian",
but it will quickly make its way towards smaller productions as well.
And the day will finally come when we all will say:
"Green screen your services are no longer required".