By Randi Altman
When COVID hit and production shut down, Burbank-based production company LA Castle Studios got to work figuring out how to keep projects moving safely. This family-run studio, which offers a greenscreen stage, a full writer’s room, office space and dressing rooms, has integrated many things to accommodate safe filming. In fact, they use Epic’s Unreal Engine, which allows for the creation of detailed sets and environments for single and multi-camera projects. Thanks to this technology, projects can be created, dressed, managed, lit and filmed with minimal crew. Some of their sets even feature digital extra actors, further minimizing the number of people needed to be physically on set.
This approximately 12,000-square-foot studio has been home to TV talk shows, award shows, scripted movie and television scenes, commercials and infomercials. Projects shot there include the BET Awards and Mission Unstoppable With Miranda Cosgrove.
Let’s find out more from LA Castle Studios owner Tim Pipher.
Can you tell us a bit about your studio?
Our Unreal Engine set-up allows productions to take place in any location in the universe, past, present or future, without set construction or travel expenses. We can shoot multi-camera or single camera —with cinema cameras and lenses at 4K — including cinematic depth of field, freely moving cameras and shadows on the floor.
The talent is in these virtual environments, not just in front of an LED screen projecting a background. This means there’s no need to build a real set in front of the virtual scene like you’d have to do with many other set-ups. It also means that talent can interact with set pieces that aren’t really there, including virtual walls, floors and ceilings, all of which look to be absolutely real — even though nothing in the shot actually exists except the talent and any real items the director would like.
How did you prepare for the shutdown?
We weren’t prepared at all, but we were lucky — the producers needed a roomy place that requires minimal crews, and our technology and setup fits the bill.
Were you able to keep working at all?
Like every other business in America, we were very worried about how we’d survive a total shut down. But early in the lockdown, we received a call from Done + Dusted who needed to find a facility safe enough to accommodate the celebrities they were lining up for Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020, hosted by LeBron James and featuring Timothee Chalamet, Alicia Keyes and others.
What are some of the COVID precautions you have put in place?
We’re pretty big, and our technology means that crews can be tiny. So if we’re shooting with a cast and crew of 10, and we have 12,000 square feet, that’s 1,200 square feet per person — tons of separation. Next, we have two giant roll-up doors. When weather permits, those can be opened high, turning us into an almost open-air facility. When the doors are closed and the air conditioning is on, we have MERV-13 filtration, which many believe assists in filtering the virus from the air. We also have a gigantic LED video wall in a separate big room away from the stage with a live feed to the stage. That means producers, executives, crew and everybody else can have a great view of the production while spreading far apart — no need for everyone to crowd around a monitor as in a traditional video village or crowd around on stage.
We also insist that masks be worn at all times (except for on-camera talent while filming) and insist upon social distancing whenever possible. Clients then add their own additional precautions, including COVID tests, zones and COVID officers. Put it all together, and the industry believes we’re a very safe facility.
Can you talk about another project completed during the pandemic?
We filmed a complete Netflix series called Bookmarks, which featured hip-hop artist Common. By coincidence, just a few days later, we worked with Common again in another production called John Lewis: Celebrating a Hero for CBS, in which Common and John Legend performed from what appeared to be the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, but was actually right from our stage in Burbank. Common treated my staff and me like he was seeing his old friends again because he had just been here — we really like that guy.
Both projects were produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment, with the virtual sets designed by the team of Drew Findley and Dan Efros at DFPLLC.com. The sets were delivered in Unreal 4.24. The Bookmarks set was designed to be a colorful fantasy library, with stars including Common and Tiffany Hadish reading children’s books.
The John Lewis project virtual set was a recreation of Selma Alabama’s iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge, upon which John Legend was playing the piano and singing a duet with Common, recreating their powerful Grammy- and Oscar-winning collaboration, “Glory.”
For both productions, there were approximately six people on set, with another eight in the facility but off the set.
The John Lewis project was a two-day shoot including a tech day, and the Bookmarks series was a six-day shoot. Both were shot with LA Castle Studios’ Panasonic Varicam 35 cameras, with our Fujinon Cabrio 4K Cinema Zoom Lenses.
What other tools are used along with the Unreal Engine?
Important additional tools include three Mo-Sys StarTracker systems for perfect camera tracking, and three Ultimatte 12 4K keyers.
Do you have post facilities on site?
Although LA Castle Studios has basic post facilities, most productions send out to post houses. Since both projects I mentioned earlier were shot in 4K (UHD), shooting simultaneously with three cameras and recording not only the composite of the talent in the virtual environment, but also the background and foreground separately, and the tracking and matte data — that’s 12 4K feeds total — a great deal of data is created. The producer brought in a team of DIT’s, who transferred footage to their hard drives throughout the days for delivery to post, which was offsite.
Do you expect that some of these safety measures that have been put in place at your company might continue after the pandemic is over?
The rules won’t be there after the pandemic. But we have natural advantages as described above, so we’ll be safer against common ailments like colds and flu long after the pandemic, which is nice. But COVID or no COVID, we believe we have a better way to shoot.
What industry trends do you see developing and staying in place after the pandemic?
I believe producers are realizing that with our technology, creative doors open. Money is saved, and virtual production is faster and easier than traditional filming. That’s a nice combination that the market is now recognizing. That won’t change, with or without a pandemic.
Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for more than 20 years.