The film and production industry, like every other vertical, took a step back during the pandemic and reevaluated how things are done. One of the biggest trends (literally) since then has been having an innovative—and usually massive—video wall for virtual production.
Clear Lake, IA-based 35North Studios is one of the latest to make waves, turning to Planar and Brompton Technologies for virtual production projects. Using Planar CarbonLight CLI VX Series LED video walls with Brompton technology in its new 3,500-square-foot virtual production stage—which is powered by Unreal—35North is saving on production costs, all while streamlining the filmmaking process.
“When we are shooting a car scene, we can make reflections appear and move across a windshield or the car mirrors,” Justin Fairfax, director of 35North Studios, told Planar. “We can also replicate natural lighting.”
According to Fairfax, that ability to bring the outdoors in and create those elements saves both time and money. “It’s about improving methods, accomplishing more in less time and tightening these incredibly lengthy filmmaking processes,” he said.
Some of the key technologies being used are:
- A curved, 22x8-foot main LED video wall backdrop with a 1.9mm pixel pitch.
- A movable 16x10-foot LED ceiling with a 2.6mm pixel pitch.
- Two movable 10x10-foot LED side walls, each with a 2.6mm pixel pitch.
- A motion-capture tracking system from OptiTrack and ARRI cinema cameras.
Check it out for yourself in the video below.
