American Cinematographer - September 2022 - 68

The Virtual World
Needell works in a mocap volume.
would ultimately edit together. "
Says Fresco, " I think it's important
to understand that technology
advances in giant steps,
and therefore visualization apps
and tools are constantly merging
with traditional filming. Story will
always be king, but these tools
are here to push the limits of
what's possible. "
The director credits her mentor,
writer/director Billy Ray, with
sharing advice on achieving tone
through performance. " You can
create your tone with cinematography
and music, but you also
must be mindful of getting real,
raw work from your actors within
the logistical nightmare that
production sometimes is. Having
everything previs'ed helped me to
emphasize the performances. "
Fresco says his key takeaway
didn't move the camera, and all
the original shots were locked
off. But when we started seeing
early animated versions of the
scene, it just felt sad somehow. I
wanted the camera to express the
whirlwind emotion Mark is feeling
in that moment.
" But because everything was
rigged in Unreal Engine, we could
still change the cameras, " the
director continues. " It was like
having a virtual reshoot. Even
though we'd already lost access
to the stage and the crew, we
could still move the cameras
in Unreal and reuse the actor's
original movement. It felt less like
a compromise and more like a life
raft. "
68 / SEPTEMBER 2022
Fresco collaborated with
Needell on the final grade, which
was performed with Blackmagic
Design's DaVinci Resolve by
Dave Krahling " at Colorado's own
Milkhaus production and post, "
Needell says.
" Grading the live-action was
pretty straightforward, " says
Fresco, " but the virtual sections
were a lot harder for me because I
didn't have the texture of real skin
to use as a baseline. It took several
sessions looking at value and
contrast to get it to look right. It
takes a while to switch your brain
into accepting that virtual skin
looks flat, shoulders are shiny,
etc. You end up using a completely
different language with the
virtual-production crew than you
do with the live-action team. "
Parting Shots
After Life Rendered premiered at
the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival,
Needell and Fresco reflected on
the experience of making it. " I
recommend writers and directors
check out Unreal and other
visualization apps as tools for
storytelling - for both virtual and
traditional filmmaking, " Needell
says. " Unreal Engine is a powerful
tool for prep, because you can
begin to block out your scenes
and play around with camera,
lighting and pacing. With the previs
I created, I arrived on set confident
that I knew how the shots
is " to involve yourself with the
virtual-production team from the
start as if they're your production
designer or your gaffer. The
technology is so new, and the
possibilities are almost endless. I
feel like we can play around and
experiment. "
He emphasizes, however, that
" finding a director you connect
with creatively and get deep into
characters and story with is the
real journey. I'd go blindly into another
project with Emma because
she treats the story and the script
with so much respect. If someone
watches Life Rendered and is
touched by it, I feel like we've
done our job. "
American Cinematographer - September 2022

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