Come In, We’ll Give You Shelter From the Storm

Imagine this… You’re shooting a feature. You’ve got the perfect DP. You’ve cast the right actors. You have the funding. You’re on location shooting a pivotal scene, a lead actor driving in the rain. There’s only one problem: the rain.

CHALLENGE:

We recently worked with a young team of indie filmmakers. They had heard about the 45% Upstate New York tax credit, and boarded their flights from Los Angeles. They were shooting in the Catskills in a little mountain valley town called Bovine when it started to rain… It kept raining. And kept raining… And rained some more.

It rained so much that their grip & electric truck got swept away. Literally, in a flash flood! The situation was untenable. They needed a trusted partner, a controlled environment, and a drive-on soundstage to come to the rescue.

SOLUTION:

Our client needed help shooting a key scene with an actor driving in the rain, but with a modicum of control and an emphasis on safety.

Hailing from LA, the production company was excited to work with our dynamic duo, Kara & Alex, who’ve got years upon years of experience in the Industry on both coasts. 

We’ve talked a lot about Virtual Production, and all the many ways it can be used. One of our favorite things to do is design a technical implementation that matches the unique needs of a project. For this high speed action scene, we decided to go with a dynamic live projection to provide a photorealistic context.

Once the rain towers started pelting the car, the turbine wind machines got cranked to 11, and the prop guys started jostling the car; the effect was seamless and complete. Most importantly, no more crew vehicles were swept away on set.