LED Immersion Brings Live-Action Environments On-Set |
Commercial production company Big Deahl Productions with Resolution Productions Group have developed a new technique that uses LED screens to project imagery on set to allow the production to shoot several locations, all in one day. The two companies, located in Chicago, have named this new process Environmental LED Immersion, or ELI. |
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Back in the studio, they set up lighting to match the lights at the L-platform location. With Rhomberg then standing in front of the LED background, which measures 10ft x 16ft, Todd shot them together. The effect was very convincing. Because Marty could watch the action being projected onto the LED panels, he was able to interact with the virtual L-train’s movement in real time as it pulled away from the station. “This process could also benefit actors on virtual sets who would normally be looking at a blank green wall behind them,” said David. |
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Todd has been experimenting with the Environmental LED Immersion technique for several months and has discovered that certain methods give better results. The L-train platform test was very simple with nothing going on in the background other than the train slowly pulling out from the station, but it was still very effective. He has determined that including other elements - such as people walking in the background or in front of the lens, or the camera moving off of a foreground prop onto the subject - would include more interaction with the background and, therefore, appear more convincing. “When this process is combined with proper lensing, lighting, T-stops and so on, it could give agency creatives many more options for scenes from around the world without the expense of transporting gear and crews to actual locations,” he said. “Very little or no post work is required - no green screen, compositing or post clean-up. Also, location background elements are graded according to the director’s eye by using a colour chart, which then becomes the LUT for shooting the subject on stage.” www.bigdeahl.com |