Felix Jorge

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A man with curly hair and a nose ring stands against a dark blue wall with graffiti. He is wearing a white dress shirt, a patterned tie, and a black leather jacket with white contrast stitching.
A man with curly shoulder-length hair poses against a solid dark brown background. He is wearing a formal black suit with a white shirt and patterned tie, layered under an oversized black leather jacket featuring white stitching. He has several rings on his fingers and an ornamental belt buckle.
A low-angle shot of a man with curly hair looking off to the side while leaning against a dark maroon wall. He is dressed in a white shirt, a black tie, a black suit jacket, and a black leather jacket with visible white stitching.

Felix Jorge

0%

0%

A man with curly hair and a nose ring stands against a dark blue wall with graffiti. He is wearing a white dress shirt, a patterned tie, and a black leather jacket with white contrast stitching.
A man with curly shoulder-length hair poses against a solid dark brown background. He is wearing a formal black suit with a white shirt and patterned tie, layered under an oversized black leather jacket featuring white stitching. He has several rings on his fingers and an ornamental belt buckle.
A low-angle shot of a man with curly hair looking off to the side while leaning against a dark maroon wall. He is dressed in a white shirt, a black tie, a black suit jacket, and a black leather jacket with visible white stitching.

Teaching the ASC how to scout a virtual-set

Talk

Co-Presenter, Virtual Art Department

Get in Touch

Source

ASC · Epic Games · Nant Studios, LA

Date

2022

In July 2022, I got to help teach the ASC's first in-person master class on virtual production, Masters: Virtual Production, on the Nant Studios volume in LA. Epic Games, Pixomondo and our team at Narwhal Studios put it together alongside DP Baz Idoine, ASC, production designer Todd Cherniawsky, and VP journalist Noah Kadner.

I ran the virtual scout and the VR portions alongside my Narwhal team. I also walked everyone through how we ran Obi-Wan Kenobi with Todd Cherniawsky. The set was a western we art directed in Unreal Engine: a saloon interior and the dirt street out front.

Baz Idoine and Todd Cherniawsky in VR, reviewing the saloon set, live during ASC workshop.

Baz and Todd reviewing the saloon in VR, making final calls before it went to the digital construction team.

What we taught

1. Scout in gray first. Baz and Todd walked the saloon as a block-out. No textures, no lighting. The gray block-out, before the VAD goes into texture and lighting.

Baz and Todd critiquing the gray block-out in VR.

2. Let the DP and PD move things themselves. Baz picked up tables and chairs and rearranged them while Todd watched. They found a new layout for the dressing together, and discussed story and camera.

Baz moving tables and chairs in the virtual saloon while Todd looks on.

3. The frames are the deliverable. Every virtual camera Baz placed became a still. That's what the rest of the production reacts to.

Baz Idoine blocking shots with a virtual camera.Frames rendered from Baz's virtual cameras.

4. Lighting Scenarios. We worked through how lighting works, level of customization, and the value of pre-lighting virtually.

Two cinematographers testing the Unreal Engine set in VR.

Two cinematographers trying the set for themselves.

5. Hiding the Seam. With in-camera VFX, the hardest part is hiding where the LED screen, touches the physical set. To help with that, from Obi-Wan: schedule the virtual stage walks, check the physical build against the virtual extension, and flag physical requirements inside the virtual set so cost and logistics get planned early. Using tricks like wires, or barrels in the foreground, you could hide that seam.

Live actors, cameras, lights and physical set in front of the virtual set on the LED volume.

Conclusion

What I liked most about this workshop is that over two days we showed how pre-production and production actually go on a VP project shot on LED screens. It felt like a real production conversation between the team, that's what got the most positive feedback. Most people said it sounded like live-action production lingo.

Thanks for reading.