SALT LAKE CITY — Imagine as a director you want to film a scene that takes place at the Great Wall of China. In the past you would have to send the crew, the actors, hair and makeup people and probably producers to China, and pay for them. That would be a very expensive endeavor for a few scenes.
Maybe someone builds a set of the Great Wall, but it probably will not look great. In more recent decades, you could use a green screen, have actors perform in front of it and add pieces of pictures and videos of the wall later with a computer. The problem is, audiences are becoming aware of when a green screen is being used — think of car scenes on TV’s “Seinfeld” — making scenes unreal, a no-no in films and television.
Enter the virtual production stage, an LED wall that uses video game-like technology to project videos of any background from any location to be used on screen. No need to send everyone to the Great Wall of China. Instead, you can send someone with a drone to get the images you need and project them on the virtual production stage. This saves money, allows actors to see what they are supposed to see in a scene and creates images that are more authentic.
Sounds great, right? It would, if more people knew how to use it. Luckily, Salt Lake Community College has its own stage, the only school to own one in Utah, allowing its film students to learn the ins and outs of the technology while also getting a leg up on job prospects.
“I’m teaching this class because it’s hard to learn this by yourself and I saw a lot of value in being able to work with upcoming people in the field,” said Jake Dickey, a director at In-Camera Visual Effects, a film and media company working across the country and in Utah. “And it’s hard to find people to work. You can’t just jump on YouTube and learn how to do this. So, here I am.”
SLCC is not a stranger to having its students learn and use new tools that not only make their films cleaner, but will provide them skills in a tough job market. The popular “The Mandolorian” TV series, which was filmed close to Los Angeles (not in a galaxy far, far away), used the technological effects of the virtual production stage to make the environment, including the robes worn by Grogu — appear realistic. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and other Marvel films have also used the stage.
Film experts in Utah and in Los Angeles, at film schools and as employers on crews expect the desire for the virtual production stage only to grow. And, as reported in this week’s industry magazine the Hollywood Reporter, this upcoming year will have the least number of movies filmed in Hollywood ever. This implies that either fewer movies are being made — which is true — and/or movies are being filmed away from Los Angeles.
For SLCC film students this is refreshing news. If more movies will use the virtual production stage going forward and Utah continues to have more movies being filmed throughout the state, according to the Utah Film Commission, the job prospects for students with their added stage skills will be better than expected.
“We’re a cutting-edge program … and we’re a work program. We get people ready to get right to work, which is different from some other film schools,” said Dave Lehleitner, a SLCC film professor. “We have amazing faculty, but we’re also hands-on from day one, camera in hand, go out and make your stuff. And with this technology … is it needed in Utah? Yes. It’s real-life elements in a video-game world.”