UNDERSTANDING LED VOLUMES :
A Game-Changer in Filmmaking & Lighting for the Screen
PHOTO : COURTESY OF VIRTUAL PRODUCTION STUDIOS BY 80SIX
EDWARD HANRAHAN , DIRECTOR OF VIRTUAL PRODUCTION AT WILLIAM F . WHITE INTERNATIONAL EXPLAINS THIS NEW FRONTIER IN TV & FILMMAKING
By Michael Raine
Virtual production , or more specifically LED volumes , have been a major focus of conversation in the film and TV production world for the last couple years . In the last year especially – partly thanks to The Mandalorian , the latest epic series in the Star Wars universe by Disney and Lucasfilms – the use of LED volumes in place of the traditional green screens was grabbing the attention of even casual industry watchers . So , PL & P sought out someone who could teach us more about this blossoming technological and creative development . Thankfully , we were put in touch with the perfect person in Edward Hanrahan , who has been the director of virtual production at William F . White International ( WFW ) since August 2021 . He walked us through why LED volumes are so beneficial to almost every creative department involved in a production . As Hanrahan explains , LED volumes are significantly changing how shows and movies are lit , while also taking some of the load off of post-production and providing more freedom to costume designers and writers .
This interview has been edited for length and clarity .
PL & P : When did you get deeply involved with virtual production ?
Edward Hanrahan : I was doing my own side projects at my house and I didn ’ t really have access to a render farm to chew through traditional offline renders . And so , I started getting involved with Unreal Engine and it went to the head of our studio . I was a Pixomondo at the time , and said , “ Hey , I ’ m actually getting pretty good results out of this new renderer . I don ’ t know if it ’ s perfect yet , but we should pay attention to it .” And so , they saw the potential there and they said , “ Why don ’ t you take these two guys and spend a bit of time to work with Unreal Engine .” So , we did and that was great — we ’ d spend our Fridays on it , and then ILM , [ Industrial Light & Magic ,] called about the hidden new project that they were trying to get off the ground . It was very , very different from anything that come before and they were trying to find post-production partners for it . Long story short , that turned out to be The Mandalorian .
Unreal Engine got brought up on a call once very early on , and we said , “ Oh , yeah , well , we ’ ve got our team here and they ’ re kind of ticking away at this stuff .” They were like , “ Whoa , you guys are into this as well ?” So , at that point , I think the powers that be were like , “ Wow , the big players in the VFX industry are using this and we ’ re using it .” Working on The Mandalorian really opened our eyes to what using it on set could be .
But before and after The Mandalorian was Star Trek . That was the big show at our
24 | Fall 2022