Discover limitless creative possibilities

In television and film, virtual production is becoming increasingly common in fantasy and science fiction, genres that rely heavily on green screens and visual effects in post-production. Disney’s The Mandalorian This technique was made famous; the popular show was filmed in front of a 21 x 75 foot space that placed the cast and crew in immersive 3D environments. Every subsequent Star Wars live-action TV show has also been filmed using virtual production, alongside mainstream series including Stand out, Doctor Who And House of the Dragon and blockbuster films like Barbie, The poor And The BatmanThat’s because virtual production makes everything possible.

By building environments in Unreal, video game marketers can create absolutely anything they can imagine. It could be a complex fantasy landscape that would otherwise require extensive and expensive set designs to achieve. Or it could be something more familiar, customized to the exact requirements of the brief and the client. “You either build environments digitally from scratch and then film something with LED volumes, or you find a location that’s exactly what you want,” says Devon. “In theory, that’s the faster option to get what you want if the location exists and you can get there. However, you can’t change a mountain range or the layout of a city in real life, but that’s extremely quick with a digital environment. We can build exactly what the client wants. And if they want to change something while we’re filming, we can do it immediately.”

The endless potential of virtual environments ultimately opens up new opportunities for clients. Marketers can present more creative ideas that might not have been possible using traditional production techniques and reallocate budgets accordingly. Seamus agrees: “Perhaps most importantly, with virtual production we are now able to offer our clients more sophisticated and complex solutions, in a way that is much more accessible and better suited to clients’ resources and schedules – which is especially important in such a demanding and competitive industry.”

Create more diverse and authentic content

Video games are global – and no longer limited to consoles. This means that gamers are more diverse and widespread than ever before, and it’s important that they see themselves reflected in the marketing for their favorite games. This hasn’t always been easy with traditional production techniques. Virtual production makes it easier.

“Virtual production makes the world smaller for us. Creatively, it breaks down a lot of barriers, which in turn allows us to explore more diverse representation in our content,” says Seamus. “We can represent not only different people, but also different places, cultures and atmospheres, which allows us to create global content that is much more inclusive in a cost-effective and efficient way.”

This gives more authenticity and identification to marketing content. And the nature of virtual production highlights this even further; by allowing cast and crew to “work in context” rather than having to imagine environments and effects that are usually added in post-production, it becomes “easier to deliver compelling performances”, resulting in more engaging and authentic-looking trailers.

What expertise and tools are required for virtual production?

Virtual production requires a special mix of technical skills in video game development and traditional production expertise. Art and development teams need to be familiar with 3D modeling tools used to create the assets and real-time engines like Unreal used to bring all the assets together and realize the environment.

“To create the LED volume backgrounds, we leverage many disciplines, such as environment art and all the physics and lighting considerations that come with such scenes,” says Ben. “We can also script sequences in Unreal, so VFX and animated events can be triggered in-camera over and over to create a perfect scene repeat on a live-action shoot. And we don’t have to learn anything. We can already combine Keywords’ experience in creating live-action trailers with the technical art production and virtual art department. It’s all there and ready to go.”

Thanks to Keywords’ specialized studios and global network, everything required for virtual production shoots can be done in-house: “Whether a client simply wants us to create an environment for them and plug in as part of the process where we work with multiple production companies, or they want us to handle the entire lifecycle of the project from scripting to animation, live capture, post-production and delivery, we can do it all in-house at Keywords,” says Devon. “Most companies only offer part of the process, but we’re lucky to be able to leverage our ecosystem to be able to do everything in-house!”

What’s next for virtual production at Keywords Studios?

At Maverick Media, the team is looking to pool expertise and increase efficiency. “Our next goal at Maverick is to collaborate more with brands across the Keywords Studios group. There are obvious synergies with Big Farmer when it comes to creating backgrounds, for example,” says Seamus. “We want to get to a point where we have a library of assets that we can also reuse when needed, such as virtual sets that can be redesigned from project to project. This would reduce bespoke work and increase cost efficiency for the client.”

For Big Farmer, it’s about increasing understanding – especially outside the video game sector. “There needs to be a little education about virtual production shooting. I think that’s where the games industry will help by providing general education and expectation management around cost, schedule and flexibility with the wider entertainment industry,” says Devon. “That also creates opportunities for us and positions us as a competent partner for creating virtual production environments.”

Diploma

Virtual production is “a marriage of film and game artists” that is transforming the entertainment industry by replacing green screens as an immersive method of placing cast and crew in a CG environment. And it also has great potential in video game marketing, allowing studios to create live-action trailers more efficiently and creatively, while representing more diverse audiences and cultures.

Keywords Studios is already exploring the possibilities of virtual production in video game development and marketing. Big Farmer aims to “make technology accessible in a revolutionary way in the gaming and entertainment industry.” The company is using its “expertise in real-time game engines and live-action direction” to take audiences “anywhere, anytime, anywhere.” And virtual production on set is just one aspect that will revolutionize the way we create content. Virtual pre-production techniques like Previz and Techviz may allow studios to better conceptualize, present, plan and execute new ideas.

“It’s really exciting,” says Seamus. “It’s probably the most exciting innovation I’ve seen in my time as a live-action writer, and that’s been quite a while! It ultimately allows us to be more ambitious and also more economically and environmentally responsible. From our point of view, there’s no downside.”

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To learn more about creating trailers with virtual production at Keywords Studios, speak to the Engage Marketing Team using the form below.