Virtual production is a godsend — meet Chloe Kemp

Can you tell me what role you held with your recent film Say?

Writer, director and editor.

Can you tell me a little bit about the film?

Say is about the guilt and self-doubt that victims of abusive relationships often grapple with when trying to leave those relationships. The film depicts a single conversation between a young mother and her manipulative partner. Like their toddler in the backseat of the car, we as the audience watch their relationship unravel over the course of a tumultuous car ride.

How much of this film was shot using the virtual production facility at NantStudios Docklands?

All the interior car shots! Only the opening sequence at the house and the final scene out of the car were shot on location.

What was the experience of working at NantStudios like? How was it different from films you’ve made previously?

This was the biggest set I’d ever directed. There were departments of people all giving so much time and talent to work towards my vision. My last film was fresh out of the pandemic with a skeleton crew, so working at NantStudios made me fall in love with directing again. Working with so many moving parts meant the pre-production had to be meticulous. Every camera set up was planned and tested weeks in advance so the virtual production team could create a timeline of the plates needed. We had two sets of plates moving at different speeds and during most takes, had to call ‘pause’ on performance to switch to a different one of the six plate sections. This experience has improved my pre-production process exponentially and given me confidence in my abilities to pull off a bigger shoot.

What were the advantages of shooting your film using the virtual environment?

Having the shooting process contained to a stationary vehicle meant all the production aspects were controllable. Our original plan to shoot on a low-loader on location would have looked like: giving brief direction, going for a take from one of the three possible angles, and blindly letting the take roll.

I don’t believe we would have completed the film if we had gone with the on-location method. Having to watch playback of every shot, having to retake if the clouds moved, having to give direction only after the actors have been driven back up the windy track, would have really limited my ability to direct.

In the studio, we could pause at any time, reset the plates and go for a retake in a matter of seconds. This was the first film I’ve directed where I was given the time to get exactly what I envisioned out of the actors. There also would have been a lot of compromise on location for the limited camera-set ups available, but in the studio we could shoot any way our hearts desired!

What did you learn through this experience?

Virtual production is a godsend! Before NantStudios offered their studio to us, the idea of shooting on a volume screen floated around in the early stages of pre-production, but I was really not a fan of the idea. The film needed to look real, a snapshot of this couple’s relationship, and I didn’t want the audience to be pulled out of the story by any production aspect.

If anything, the film looks more authentic than if we had shot it on location. The lighting was controllable and consistent, the actors could see the ‘road’ in front of them and move/steer accordingly rather than being blocked by a tow car. During the sound mix, we discovered we could isolate Dana’s fantasy monologue, so the sound design could drop to silence between her sentences. From feedback since the film’s release, this was one of the most effective and emotional devices of the film and it would not have been possible if we did not shoot in a silent studio.

What challenges did you face?

Working in the studio with such a large crew made the environment quite overwhelming for our child actor. The scale of production was overwhelming for us, let alone a three-year-old, so it took some extra time helping her get comfortable in the environment.

Extended crew who weren’t involved in the pre-production the weeks prior found it challenging to wrap their heads around the changing plates. It’s new technology for the industry at large, let alone for early career film students. Luckily for us, the team at NantStudios, especially Oscar, were incredibly patient and instrumental in communicating the process to our entire crew. This made us work together as a team even more.

What did you most enjoy?

I had so much fun shooting this film! (a sentence not many directors get to say). Having the support of so many people and patience from the NantStudios team, knowing it was our first shoot with virtual production. Additionally, learning their team’s preparation and production structures has set me up with a clear idea of success going into my next shoot. It’s unlocked a whole new world of filmmaking for me and given me an excitement to explore virtual production in future projects.

Based on your experience, how do you think virtual production will change the screen industry in the future?

I think the creative allowance virtual production gives to filmmakers is so vast. We will be spending less time figuring out how to reel in ideas and focus rather on the much more exciting challenge of how virtual production can make it happen.

It’ll also expand possibilities for so many filmmakers. As the technology advances and becomes more accessible, it will allow early-career filmmakers to take their stories further, reallocating time and money spent on location scouting and rigging gear, towards honing in on creative practices.