Sony - FUTURE PROOF : Collaboration Across Borders
An actor walks toward a bright window in a dark room, her curled hair silhouetted against an antique desk. As she turns, the room appears filled with bright sunlight. Crew members in masks adjust a VENICE 2 camera on a dolly to do another take of the actor walking toward the window. Then, in a dark room against a Crystal LED B-series wall, actors and crew gather by the same desk recreating the room from the previous scene. A boom mic hangs above an actor in a suit and hat beneath lights.
EISUKE OHGA
“I believe this is the first time virtual production was used as the bridge to connect Hollywood production with Japanese production.”
Soft electronic music plays as two mustard yellow dots eclipse a grey background. White text in the center appears:
ON SCREEN TEXT: Collaboration
Across Borders
A production crew member manipulates an image on a screen with an Xperia smartphone plugged in nearby recording his work. A man in a short-sleeved shirt speaks against a grey background, and a soft grey arch to his left reads:
ON SCREEN TEXT: Eisuke Ohga
Japan Unit Director of “KILIAN’S GAME”
Sony PCL Inc.
EISUKE OHGA
“We tried to break virtual production boundaries by digitalizing the actual location in LA and shooting the same scene in Japan without breaking the continuity.”
The shot jumps to the crew filming two actors facing one another in a round driveway outside a tall house in Los Angeles, which is surrounded by agave plants and rose bushes. Now, the same house exterior appears on a Crystal LED B-series wall inside a virtual production stage, where Eisuke gestures with his hand as he talks to other members of the crew.
Now a man speaks against a dark background, and a soft grey arch displays his name and title:
ON SCREEN TEXT: Collin Davis
Co-Writer & Co-Director of “KILIAN’S GAME”
Saylor
COLLIN DAVIS
“Eisuke, he, you know, had used the LED walls before. Knowing what was possible with Unreal Engine, he pitched lighting the room on fire. Taking the right LiDAR scan of the room, with the right textures, you can really pull off almost anything.”
On the virtual production stage, two men in hats and suits move in front of a flickering fire. A film crew member snaps a slate closed. In a scene from the film, a lighter lands in a puddle of liquid and shattered glass on a hardwood floor, igniting immediately. Monitors at the back of the production stage glow as they film the scene and silhouetted crew members bustle back and forth. In a scene from the film we see the two men in hats walking towards the camera, away from the fire they started.
On a laptop, Eisuke takes a video call with multiple speakers.
EISUKE OHGA
“Good? Okay. Awesome.”
A man in a striped sweater speaks against a dark background, and a soft grey arch reads:
ON SCREEN TEXT: Matt Litwiller
Co-Writer & Co-Director of “KILIAN’S GAME”
Saylor
MATT LITWILLER
“That really changes the game for a lot of production because it means that different people from different cultures and different places can work together and create really unique perspectives.”
The Crystal LED B-series wall shows the driveway of the house, and two actors in suits, bandanas, and hats saunter away as the crew films. Back in LA outside the house, a crew member snaps a slate.
CREW MEMBER
“Thank you! That’s a cut, that’s a cut.”
Two mustard yellow dots eclipse the grey background. White text on the left reads:
ON SCREEN TEXT: FUTURE PROOF
[Japanese surtitle]
White text on the right reads:
ON SCREEN TEXT: SONY
A chime sounds as a rainbow prism flares behind white text, and the view fades to black:
ON SCREEN TEXT: SONY