Unreal Savings: Budget Previs/Techvis for Student Films

Previs and Techvis are expressions still largely associated with big-budget motion pictures and tentpole streaming series. For filmmakers still in school or working with limited resources, the terms are more aspirational than practical to their present production endeavors. Yet some budding film directors, producers, and cinematographers on opposite sides of the globe have already recreated filming locations within video game engines to technically and accurately plan lighting, camera placement and movement, as well as the arrangement of actors on set before filming even begins. This process has saved them valuable hours on shooting days, while using only the most rudimentary Previs video and storyboard stills along with Techvis data. — This presentation will examine how two young filmmakers took detailed measurements and photographs of their production locations - one of them in southern China - inputted all the location data into Epic Games's Unreal Engine, populated their virtual sets with assets to recreate furniture and other basic elements of production design, then used the virtual sets in Unreal as if they were actually setting up for production on location. All this detailed planning was done in the comfort of their own homes and saved thousands of dollars in production hours on actual shooting days. — This Techvis and rudimentary Previs process is something that all film students and low-budget film producers could employ at very little cost. The steps of the process are easily replicable and should become basic to film school instruction. Being well practiced in using game engine applications will also be a valuable lead-in for more complex work in professional Previs, Techvis, and Virtual Production.

Published

2022-10

Content type

Original Research

Keywords

Game Engine, Unreal Engine, Unity, Previs, Techvis, Low-Budget, Student Film, Location Planning, Virtual Production, Storyboard

DOI

10.5594/M001989

ISBN

978-1-61482-963-8