Case Study Solo: A Star Wars Story - Ncam

Case StudySolo: A Star Wars StoryUtilising Ncam real-time previsualisationto inform ltdncamtechnologiesncam tech01

CASE STUDYSOLO: A STAR WARS STORYSolo: A Star Wars Story is the latest addition to the space-fantasyfranchise. For this installment, the teams at Lucasfilm and ILM tookvisual inspiration from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope to tell anew story of Han Solo’s early adventures.Ncam’s unique augmented reality platform was selected toprovide live, pre-visualisation on set, enabling Director RonHoward, Director of Photography Bradford Young, cast,camera teams and editors to better convey complex bluescreen VFX scenes, as well as speeding up the post-production process.Rob Bredow, Visual Effects Supervisor and Co-Producer onSolo: A Star Wars Story and Hugh Macdonald, Head of Technology at Visualisation house Nvizage, discuss how Ncam’saward-winning technology enhanced the production processwhile saving time and costs – most notably on a major stuntsequence set on a speeding train.ncam-tech.com@ncamtech“From the very beginning, we set out to be inspired by theera of VFX from Episode IV: A New Hope and ground ourchoices of VFX techniques and cameras back to that era,while modernising those techniques with the advancedtechnology available to us today,” said Rob. “We createdpractical creatures, props, and sets wherever possible.We would only place cameras where real cameras couldbe positioned and we employed rear projection techniqueswhen shooting the cockpits and modern technologies likeNcam’s helped us to enhance every shot we utilized it on.”ncam-technologies-ltdncamtechnologiesncam tech02

CASE STUDYThe Imperial train heist is a key scene in Solo, a sequenceof more than 10 minutes’ duration that was months in themaking. The train features industrial-looking carriages stackedabove and below a narrow chain-like track, tilting precariously as they hurtle along a rocky, mountainous route at highspeed. The action primarily takes place atop the carriages asBeckett and his gang, including Han Solo, clamber and jumpfrom carriage to carriage of the moving train on their missionto seize a valuable cargo, while simultaneously fighting off afleet of marauders on speeders.“We were driven by the desire to make it all as realistic aspossible,” added Rob. “We did some practical tests, includingbuilding a mock-up of the train on a runway, and driving asemi-truck at 80mph to see what it would really look like outthere. Ultimately, we decided to shoot the sequence on ablue screen stage so we would have full control of the lightingenvironment knowing we could duplicate the wind with fansand the carriage motion with a specialized motion base.”SOLO: A STAR WARS STORYWe were driven by the desire tomake it all as realistic as possible.We did some practical tests,including building a mock-upof the train on a runway, anddriving a semi-truck at 80mphto see what it would really looklike out there.To create the mountainous backdrop of the planet Vandor,a camera crew travelled to the Italian Dolomites duringwinter to ensure the right weather and lighting conditions. With an ARRI ALEXA 65 on the nose of a helicopter,they shot over 100 aerial plates that were used asbackgrounds and references for digital environmentsthroughout the sequence. In addition, the ILM teamphoto-modelled thousands of photographs into 250square miles of mountains, which were assembled inMotionBuilder into one continuous track that was usedas the basis for the dncamtechnologiesncam tech03

CASE STUDY“We deployed the Ncam system on set to provide a livepreview of the CG background showing the mountains goingpast the train. Ordinarily, with a blue screen shoot, everyoneon set has to imagine what the final composited shot will looklike, which makes it hard for actors to react and can resultin errors that aren’t picked up until post-vis or post-production,” Rob explains. “With the Ncam system, we could see theon-set action and the CG background composited togetherin real-time, live on set, which really helped our cast, cameraoperators, and editors to understand what we were shootingfor each of the complicated beats of that sequence. We couldsee the mountains racing by the train and frame up appropriately; when a corner was coming up, the camera could pan ortilt up from the actor’s face up to the corner up ahead, andwe could intuitively find those shots on the set that simulatedbeing out in the real environment.”With the Ncam system, wecould see the on-set actionand the CG background composited together in real-time,live on set, which really helpedour cast, camera operators,and editors.ncam-tech.com@ncamtechSOLO: A STAR WARS STORYNvizage supplied the Ncam systems for the production, andsupplied a team led by Hugh Macdonald, Nvizage’s Headof Technology. For the majority of the production a singleNcam Reality system was on set, though two systems wereused on a few key scenes where it was useful to capture datafrom two cameras during the same scene. The Ncam camerabar was rigged onto various cameras throughout the shoot,including an ARRI ALEXA 65 and an ARRI ALEXA Mini, andvariously mounted under or over the camera as needed.One of the biggest challenges on this mammoth sequencewas keeping all of the action beats organised. “Workingclosely with Hugh, our pre-vis team at The Third Floor, andthe artists at ILM, we planned out long beats, or what wecalled ‘chapters’, that we could photograph and give to theDirector, Ron Howard or the Second Unit Director BradAllan,” continued Rob. “It required planning and collaboration, but that pre-visualization work gave us lots of flexibility.Whether we wanted a short action beat or to shoot for fourminutes continuously, we had around 25 chapters of pre-vismaterial built in advance and could call them up at a moment’snotice on set and be ready for the next set up.”ncam-technologies-ltdncamtechnologiesncam tech04

CASE STUDYHugh Macdonald recalls one particular section whenBeckett (Woody Harrelson) hears the speeders coming andspins round to shoot as they fly past. “The unique ability ofthe Ncam system to enable the visualisation of VFX shotsthrough the camera lens really aided how this scene was shot.It meant that the second unit could watch the Ncam previewand show Woody exactly where the speeders were comingfrom. Brad could then make sure that Woody’s action wasgoing to fit with when the VFX came in, taking away the needto retime him or adjust the speed of the vehicle later. It reallyhelped the creative process and sped up the production. Italso meant that everyone could be confident that the workon the day would tie together seamlessly in post,” he says.The flexibility of the Ncam system also enabled the production to adapt with the changing needs of a highly complexaction sequence, as Rob explains:“The sequence evolved as it was shot, so if Ron Howard or[Co-Producer and Writer] Jon Kasdan or I had an idea for arevision, we could talk to our pre-vis team at The Third Floorand they could turn around a new chapter, generate a newMotionBuilder file and run it over to the set the next day oreven that same day. We could be up and running very quicklywith a new action beat that met the Director’s requirementsfor the story.”ncam-tech.com@ncamtechSOLO: A STAR WARS STORYThere were some key features of the Ncam system thatfurther eased the workflow, whether adapting to the Director’s preferred work method or enabling on-the-fly changesto the animation as Rob explains:“Ron likes doing long, continuous takes that give theactors the opportunity to try different performances.Hugh created shortcuts within the system to play specificbackground clips that coincided with various sections ofthe script. Ron could therefore do several takes in a rowwithout cutting the cameras, and Hugh would trigger theplayback for each take so that the correct section of themountains was going by as the dialogue was delivered.We could keep going as long as necessary and the background shot would be consistent.”The unique ability of the Ncamsystem to enable the visualisation of VFX shots through thecamera lens really aided howthis scene was shot.ncam-technologies-ltdncamtechnologiesncam tech05

CASE STUDYHugh adds: “The Ncam system also came into play whenthere were some elements of camera positioning thatthe second unit couldn’t completely plan in advance. Inthe section when Val [Thandie Newton] is coming to theattention of some droids, Brad [Allan] might ask if a droidcould come in at a different point within the frame, so thatthe camera unit could line up the cameras in a better position.We were able to do some basic animation on the fly to reposition objects in a matter of minutes, which helped to confirmthe camera positions very quickly and easily.”While the on-set visual element of the Ncam system providedsignificant benefits to the production process, there wasanother major advantage that Rob felt was just as important.“When we walked off the set for the day, we not only hadbetter, more informed and more intuitive camera moves thatfelt more in the style of the rest of the sequence - we alsohad our post-vis already done,” he says. “With a blue screenproduction, you would traditionally do the shoot and thenlater composite in all those digital backgrounds so that editorial has media to cut with. In this case, we left the set havingalready built all that post-vis work, which gave the editorsmuch more coherent material. Imagine having to edit this10-minute action sequence, with a bunch of people on thetops of trains – it would have been so much harder for editorial to have to put all that together if they didn’t have all thosebackgrounds. It really helped us create the sequence on anaggressive schedule and put it together efficiently.”ncam-tech.com@ncamtechSOLO: A STAR WARS STORYWhen we walked off the set forthe day, we not only had better,more informed and more intuitive camera moves that feltmore in the style of the rest ofthe sequence - we also had ourpost-vis already done.Ncam’s augmented reality system provided many benefits on this production, but Rob had initially been reticentabout employing this real-time technology due to perceivedobstructions to the shooting process – a perception that hewas happy to have disproved.“I’ve tried to use real-time technology on set before and ithasn’t always been this successful. You don’t want a lot ofextra people or hardware, or any complexity that slows downyour shooting process - but with this system we only had oneextra person assisting on the camera and Hugh operating onthe box, and we really didn’t have to slow down productionvery much at all to get a great deal of extra advantage,” he says.ncam-technologies-ltdncamtechnologiesncam tech06