StoryFutures Academy presents, in association with Future Screens NI, 'VP Futures: Behind The Scenes Of A Virtual Production Accelerator Programme'. This five-episode series recounts the roller coaster journey of VP Futures, an intensive skills development journey into the world of VP and real time technologies.
StoryFutures Academy (the UK’s National Centre for Immersive Storytelling run by the National Film & Television School and Royal Holloway, University of London) and Future Screens NI present ‘VP Futures: Behind The Scenes Of A Virtual Production Accelerator Programme'.
This five-episode series showcases the extraordinary work of VP Futures, an exciting co-production training & development programme where eight companies tested new ideas, upskilled their teams and received extensive in-depth mentorship from Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Epic Games. The programme was created to build VP skills in the workforce and capacity in UK businesses to take up the new opportunities coming on stream in VP and real time technologies.
EPISODE 1 - Meet the Teams & Partners
In this episode we learn more about the ambitions and hopes of the eight VP Futures teams and the potential for VP as a storytelling tool. Meet the companies and partners ready to take on the challenge and explore new creative ideas.
Full episodes below and here.
EPISODE 2 - The Development Zone Part 1
In this episode the companies assess themselves, their projects & ideas to see if they are transposable into a virtual world, and learn about the complexities of Virtual Production. With Virtual Production masterclasses and a remote session about mocap and performance capture by Industrial Light & Magic and Epic Games, the contestants gain a significant amount of expertise.
EPISODE 3 - The Development Zone Part 2
In this episode the companies dig deep into their needs within Virtual Production and put their newly learned knowledge and skills into practice with the expert industry mentorship and on set production support. With help from mentors from Industrial Light & Magic and Epic Games, the companies jump over hurdles and obstacles and watch their projects come to life.
EPISODE 4 - Aura Digital: Making “Stone Hearts & Careless People”
This episode demonstrates the process of making “Stone Hearts & Careless People” a short film made by Aura Digital about a supernatural romance that explores love, loneliness and the beautiful tragedy of living. Aura Digital is an immersive content studio based in Belfast who work with a range of technologies from XR, Motion Capture, Realtime Rendering and Virtual Production to make content.
EPISODE 5 - Sunnyside Productions Behind the Scenes of “The Surreal Life”
Sunnyside are one of the two companies selected for the VP Futures Production Zone and given production support and budget to create their VP project. In this episode watch how Sunnyside Productions take the true story of an historic meeting and transform it into the world of the surreal and subconscious with “The Surreal Life”. Although the action has a comic twist, visually the film is striking and uncanny, and explores the iconography of both the Surrealist movement and the power of dreams. Sunnyside Productions is a well-established production company that creates and produces factual, specialist factual and factual entertainment television programmes and formats.