Hollywood has banked on the illusion of the green screen for decades in their pursuit of hyper-realistic movie magic. Now, we get an insiders look at the new technology set to take its place.
In this interview with visual effects artist Charmaine Chan, she reveals all about the brand new technology used while filming Disney’s The Mandalorian. Aptly named ‘The Volume’, the novel practice utilises a cylindrical LED-coated set with the ability to show movie backgrounds in real-time.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s something fake. It feels like an extension of a regular set stage. You’ve got to be careful because there are times where people don’t see where the end of the stage is and where the LEDs are.”
-Charmaine Chan, VFX Artist for Industrial Light & Magic
The Volume’s design not only creates a dynamic, realistic set which can be changed in a matter of seconds, but also lightens the burden of the average visual effects team considerably.
Chan explained that in a typical shoot utilising green screen tehcnology:
“[Visual effects teams work] almost frame-by-frame making sure we can remove that green screen”
Now, however, the team was able to focus only on details such as colour correction in order to ensure a seamless final shot.
Catch The Mandalorian on Disney+ now and get a glimpse of the special effects for yourself.
