Kim Libreri, an award-winning visual effects artist based in Northern California, has worked on films including Artificial Intelligence and the Planet of the Apes War.
For nine years he worked with a technology known for computer games, in particular Fortnite.
Unreal Engine, owned by Epic Games, provides the building blocks and tools a computer game developer needs, but is increasingly attractive technology for TV and film producers.
The latest version of the technology, Unreal Engine 5, will be released next year and Epic has heavily dragged its features.
It should allow visual effects artists like Mr Libreri to insert graphics and images directly into a scene, with little confusion.
"With traditional cinema, a director and a filmmaker could shoot a scene on the set, then the movie, the hand-held shots and the creative direction towards a team of virtual reality artists and designers, who enhance that material with visual effects and images computer generated in a separate production phase, says Libreri.
With Unreal Engine the collaboration between director, director of photography, set designer and virtual reality team can take place simultaneously as an interactive process on the set.
"Unreal Engine 5 promises to further free the artistic process by facilitating the development of virtual worlds developed for film and television and their execution in the game engine in real time," says Libreri.
Anthony Hunt, is the general manager of Cinesite, a multinational digital entertainment group whose work in the visual effects field includes blockbuster films such as Avengers: Endgame, Independence Day: Resurgence, Iron Man 3 and others.
His company recently used Unreal Engine in a live stunt show for a theme park, which includes chase scenes, punishment punches and death defying jumps.
"It all happens in front of you with live artists, interactive props and an immense LED screen - making it impossible to determine where the live action ends and the screen starts," says Hunt.
The film industry has long borrowed technology from the video game industry.
Game production processes such as mapping 3D scenes through photography, storyboards and animations take place on systems similar to those used to build games.
But the challenges of blocking film and television production will likely accelerate the use of game technology.
For example, game engines are particularly useful for generating large crowds.
"An extra must be fed, dressed and hosted on a movie set. Now we can replicate huge crowd scenes with computer technology and have only our main actors in the foreground," says Hunt.
A good example of this is a scene from Rocketman, the musical fantasy of Elton John's breakthrough years.
One scene was set at Dodger Stadium, but in reality actor Taron Egerton starred in Shepperton Studios. The crowds used were 3D graphics designed to be part of a larger scene.
The computer-generated scenario can be combined with LED walls: giant screens made up of single displays.
"LED walls are becoming increasingly popular in film and television production because they allow filmmakers to capture visual effects in the room and manipulate digital objects in a scene in real time," says Libreri.
"LED panels like the ones we saw with Disney's The Mandalorian (a science fiction TV series and part of the Star Wars family) will be a huge advantage for production on set once the restrictions begin to increase, as filmmakers can reduce travel by creating photorealistic digital backgrounds to imitate any place, "he continues.
"When physical filming restrictions are lifted, directors will have a clear plan on what and how to shoot their film / TV series because they have already done it on the computer," says Hunt.
What will all this mean for the actors, crew and support staff working in the sector?
"There is a possibility that the needs of the production crew will change somewhat. Some roles may change with the continued use of CGI, perhaps other roles will be created," says Daniel Green, director of the Master in Entertainment Industry Management Program at Carnegie. Mellon University.
When production returns to normal, the industry will need to be unified and make changes to ensure safety is paramount, says Dr. Green.
The studio's managers and producers will no longer make decisions based solely on artistic vision and production costs.
"They will now be in close consultation with public health officials to make sure crews, actors and staff can have a safe and secure working environment," he says.
Green also points out that CGI creates realistic worlds that are fun, but good storytelling is still the key.
"The use of CGI and virtual production as in The Lion King remake may increase what can be shown on the screen, but in the end the audience will still want to be entertained by a story that fascinates them."
Travis Cloyd, Chief Technology Officer of CMG Worldwide, a company representing 1,700 celebrities, athletes, musicians, brands and historical figures, sees another use for game engines.
A great business opportunity lies in "resurrecting" historical characters and famous people of the past such as James Dean or Rosa Parks through digital twins, according to Cloyd.
"These famous people have a prefabricated awareness," he says. "They will always resonate with the public and the expansion of new platforms in the midst of the pandemic will bring new opportunities to use them in a plethora of media," says Cloyd.
Technology such as Unreal Engine is likely to be used in this process.
The film is obviously a business, so the hope is that new technologies will save time and money.
"Fewer things will have to be processed on set and in post-production and there will be less need for travel and expensive location shots," says Libreri.
"Once people experience this new way of working," Libreri continues, "they will find that it is much more efficient and cheaper."
"It's safe to say that virtual production is here to stay," he says.
