Scouting an XR (LED) Stage

This week, Director of Photography Laurence Avenet-Bradley (Lo) and I had our first meeting to discuss the various sets and locations of ATM BOY. We also toured the first soundstage on our Los Angeles list.

The ATM BOY screenplay calls for a lot of locations: hotels, bars, clubs, casinos, a beach, a private airplane.

With a large budget, we’d be able to shoot all these things on location. However, that is prohibitive on our modest budget; we need to keep locations and travel to a minimum. This means shooting at a sound stage that has “standing sets” (sets that are already built and in place) that we can employ, as well as an “XR” stage. 

What is an XR stage?

Example of LED Stage

XR stages (Extended Reality) and virtual production has really helped to change the game of filmmaking. In fact, it actually IS a lot of gaming technology that is incorporated into film production. Large LED screen walls are integrated with realtime 3D graphics and camera tracking. Any move the camera makes is tracked and recorded by a computer. The movement is then mimicked by a virtual camera on a virtual set which is then projected on to the large LED screens. The final result is a background that moves, in realtime, in response to what the real camera operator is doing with the real camera. Real actors and real sets in front of the screen all integrate for the final image. It’s a cool combination of game technology, motion capture and good old rear-projection technique, that results in amazingly realistic images. The tech is so new that the industry hasn’t really even settled on a name yet. “volume”, “XR”, “virtual production”, I’m sure a few more names will emerge before we settle on something.

So, by combining real sets and XR technology, we’ll be able create locations described in the screenplay… casinos, fancy hotel rooms, nightclubs, even a Polynesian beach – without having to actually go to these locations! It means great production value at a fraction of the cost.

The soundstage we checked out has an LED stage as well as other standard soundstage infrastructure. It didn’t have any standing sets, but we were told about a company, minutes down the street, that did have sets that could easily be brought in; all parts in the jigsaw puzzle of making a movie. 

Checking out LED Sound Stage

Checking out LED Sound Stage

While Lo did lens tests, seeing how wide a shot we’d be able to get, and technical stuff like screen refresh rate information, pixel density etc. I toured the rest of the facilities and discussed the business side (wearing the producer hat along with the director hat).

Laurence Avenet-Bradley gathering lens information.
Stefan is the subject of a Focal Length Test

Playing with this new technology is a fun part of movie making, but it’s also a critical component. It makes possible the production of ATM BOY on a budget that would not have been possible ten years ago. It’s critically important to be completely immersed and educated in the latest tech – as as artist AND as a producer.

If you haven’t yet joined us as an investor, now is a great time! And if you’re already on the team, thank you!

Please, keep spreading the word to anyone you think might be interested in joining this fun and exciting adventure!