INTO THE VOLUME: FIVE INNOVATIVE FIRMS WITH LED STAGES EYE YEAR OF GROWTH By CHRIS McGOWAN
TOP: The set of the ship’s deck in 1899 with actors Emily Beecham and Andreas Pietschmann to the right, in front of DARK BAY’s LED Volume. The setup included input from Framestore, ARRI Solutions Group, FABER AV, ROE Visual, Vicon Motion Systems, Epic Games, Helios Megapixel VR and Netflix’s Product Innovation team. (Image courtesy of DARK WAYS and Netflix) OPPOSITE TOP TO BOTTOM: The deck of the ship in front of the LED wall seen from above during the filming of the 1899 series at the DARK BAY LED studio in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany. (Image courtesy of DARK WAYS and Netflix) A car commercial at the MELS LED Studio, which had over 20 productions in 2021, including Transformers 7 and Disappointment Boulevard. (Image courtesy of MELS Studios) At Studio Lab using an LED wall for a remote location and accurate reflections. (Image courtesy of Studio Lab)
These are the formative years of virtual production, full of challenges and discoveries. Here, executives of five prominent firms with LED stages – DARK BAY, MELS Studios, Virtual Production Studios (80six), Studio Lab and Pixomondo – discuss the arc of their growth and some of their latest developments and innovations. DARK BAY
The genesis of the DARK BAY LED stage in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, was driven by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, the creators of Netflix’s Dark, who were working on ideas for their next series. 1899 was originally imagined as a pan-European show with vast backlot builds and locations spread over four countries in Europe. Then came the pandemic. Odar and Friese came up with the idea to shoot 1899 in a LED volume, which seemed the best solution to realize their vision while keeping the cast and crew safe. In addition, building their own stage made sense considering the scale of the series, according to DARK BAY Managing Director Philipp Klausing. Thus came about the DARK BAY Virtual Production Stage, owned in a majority share by Odar and Friese’s production company Dark Ways and in a minority share by Studio Babelsberg. DARK BAY was financially supported by funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy of the State of Brandenburg (MWAE) and backed up by a long-term booking commitment from Netflix. The facility, with an LED wall 180 feet long and 23 feet high and an active shooting area of 4,843 square feet, is located on the lot of Studio Babelsberg and came online in May 2021. ARRI was involved in the DARK BAY planning and installation, and offered its know-how throughout the setup. The ARRI Solutions Group specializes in setting up mixed reality studios
40 • VFXVOICE.COM SPRING 2022
PG 40-47 LED STAGES.indd 40
2/28/22 3:57 PM
