2022 LSU Gumbo - Book - Page 161
The production technology that helped bring the Star
Wars universe to life on Disney+ with “The Mandalorian”
is coming to Baton Rouge courtesy of a $1.25 million grant
LSU received from Louisiana Economic Development.
The grant comes as a part of Louisiana Economic
Development’s new Entertainment Development Fund
designed to improve the productivity of Louisiana’s
residents in the ever-changing entertainment landscape.
Distributed in five $250,000 annual increments, the
grant will be used to develop the university’s Virtual
Production & Emerging Media Filmmaking program.
Included is the development of a virtual production stage
in the university’s Digital Media Center in the coming
months.
This virtual production stage, also known as the XR
studio, will feature a full LED wall and motion capture
technology. Similar technology is used in Disney’s Volume
technology—the virtual production tool used to create the
worlds of “The Mandalorian” and the upcoming “Thor:
Love and Thunder.”
“They can transport locations to the state of Louisiana
and not have to shoot some of these things on location,”
said Chris Stelly, Louisiana Economic Developments’
executive group director of entertainment and digital
media.
Work is already underway to implement the technology
required for the program, including the LED screen in the
XR studio.
A portion of the screen should be in place by January,
according to Jason Buch, the LSU Screen Arts program’s
representative on the virtual production program.
Stelly feels that this technology allows the state to be at
the forefront of education and application of this emerging
technology. He said that technology has changed the face
of filmmaking and this grant and the programs developed
from it “will provide a lot of opportunities to train people
on the most current technology with the most current
programing and filmmaking techniques.”
The proposal and development of the first-of-its-kind
program that is “geared towards the future of filmmaking”
will allow both LSU and Louisiana to stay competitive in
the film industry, Stelly said.
A key portion of LSU’s virtual production program
proposal is the connection with and integration of multiple
colleges across the university’s campus. The virtual
production program intends to connect programs in seven
of the university’s 14 colleges, ranging from the College
of Engineering to the Colleges of Music & Dramatic Arts
and Humanities & Social Sciences—where Screen Arts is
located.
“Having access to something like this on campus is
going to open up possibilities for projects students want
to work on,” Buch said “And also hopefully cross-program
interactions with the students where the filmmakers from
the Screen Arts program can work with and enlist help
from students in [Music & Dramatic Arts].”
The virtual production program and the host of different
disciplines it brings together will more adequately prepare
students across the university to thrive on film sets, and the
world beyond entertainment.
The convergence of these technologies allow students
to be prepared for more than just film, with applications
ranging from the military and training for jobs on oil
refineries, Stelly said.
One student part of the university’s Screen Arts program
is confident the technology the grant provides will help
train him for the future, but feels state-of-the-art facilities
are only as good as the staff within them.
Screen Arts senior Ben Caplan feels that the current state
of the program is more geared towards film studies and
documentary filmmaking. Both of which are important,
Caplan said, but that’s not why he came to LSU to study
film.
He wants to be involved in feature length productions
but doesn’t know where to start. Compared to other states
like Georgia, Louisiana’s film industry is not as easy to find
work in.
While Caplan is aware of a number of productions like
Apple’s “Greyhound” and Disney’s “Crater” being filmed in
Louisiana, he has no idea how to find work on these sets.
“Louisiana doesn’t really have a universal database of
productions that’s up to date. I know Celtic [Studios in
Baton Rouge] still has one of their latest productions as
‘Fantastic Four’ which came out in 2015,” Caplan said. “And
if we’re gonna base Louisiana production off ‘Fantastic
Four,’ I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
He said there are changes beyond a virtual production
facility that are needed to reinvigorate the Screen Arts
program. He feels that hiring the right people and getting
the right equipment is vital if Louisiana Economic
Development’s dream of making Baton Rouge a hub for
cinematic productions is to come to fruition.
“Hire people that have worked in the industry today,
people who are actually in the industry love to teach and
develop the new wave of art,” Caplan said.
If the goal is to keep talent and attract productions to
Louisiana, Caplan feels there’s no better way to do that than
investing in young, aspiring filmmakers.
“If LSU wants to do this they really need to find the
people that are passionate about this and continue to
influence that passion in the right direction,” he said.
161