POST AND VFX
WHAT’S NEXT?
Cinesite’s wor k on Net f l i x ’s The Witcher
not the same as being able to chat over a coffee in person.” Because there’s a huge benefit to
being able to quickly check someone’s monitor, have a short discussion about a shot and to give instant face-to-face feedback. However, in other ways, company-wide communication has improved, says Vine’s Illingworth. “Our morning Zoom briefings really help bring the team together and are actually more efficient and effective than the huddles we had in the office.” Although, he says, “We do miss the social side though.”
Br icks and mor tar If blended working becomes the
norm, then other changes could be afoot too. With fewer staff in the studio every day, perhaps floor space will be reassessed. The sad fact is that the upcoming months will be tough financially, particularly as many companies will now be servicing extra debt taken on to keep heads above water. Competition will be fierce for the scant amount of work on offer until production is in full swing and the pipeline is re-established. Every cost will need a cold hard look, part of that could be the amount of central London floor space each business feels
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it needs. “Do you need to have huge
premises in central London?” asks Neil Hatton pointing to the fact that edit suites have long been cheaper to hire than hotel rooms. “I think over the next four to five years you will see a change in in the use of central London premises definitely. I’m not going to call this the end of Soho, but it just might mean that you’re concentrating your efforts in one building rather than three or four.” He adds that landlords have been intransigent with businesses during the crisis “So I think there will be some comeuppance” for them. Full service post houses will likely
always need a substantial central London footprint as clients demand it, but for vfx houses, the move out of Soho that has been happening for some time could be accelerated. Jellyfish’s Dobree, whose main studio is located in Brixton, says the need for central premises was “a red herring. Why are you bothering because it’s not necessary” as so much vfx work is for US clients who attend remotely anyway. But with so many hospitality
businesses gone to the wall, could there be a resurgence in cheap space to rent in central London?
Vir tual wor ld At the time of writing, production
is starting to tentatively begin again. But, for the foreseeable future, robust restrictions on how productions operate will be in place. And those restrictions could mean a heavier reliance on post and vfx in the short and medium with productions finding it tough to get as much as they’d like in-camera. MPC is pushing a whole raft of
post-pandemic technical solutions to filming restrictions including replacing physical FX with vfx, virtual scouting, virtual stunts, digital doubles in case of cast sickness, LED walls, pre-viz and prep-viz as well as set extensions, virtual locations and vfx crowds. “Projects we were doing have now
pivoted and said we want to be able to do this entirely CG ‘” says Dobree. Those requests are now starting to filter through. UNIT Founder, Adam Luckwell says the company has already worked “from concept to completion to deliver 100% fully CG solutions across a wide range of content including: environments, cars, characters, CG stadiums and crowds, animals, liquids, food, trolleys, mobiles and more.” Freefolk’s Kilroe similarly notes
that “our CG and motion graphics department is much busier than this time last year. We’ve been quoting CG alternatives for crowds and 2D split screens to allow people to help with social distancing. Also, more use of photogrammetry and camera projection while location shoots have been trickier or need to use minimal crew.” Delicata adds that he can “see vfx
being lent on even more in terms of delivering shots and sequences that would normally be shot for real or part real with vfx enhancement.” Cinesite’s Jones also points to
more vfx work in pre-production. “As physical production remains challenging many directors and studios are taking the time to hone their vision ready for when production can ramp up.” And let’s hope that’s soon.
Tough times are ahead but, as Vine’s Illingworth comments: “There is more content than ever. The sector will come back, with whatever changes of workflow, geography, personnel, but the work will still be needed. We work in a privileged sector, and we are lucky to be able to feel reasonably optimistic, even if the waters immediately ahead of us look a little choppy.”
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