Visual Artists and Virtual Production: Potentialities, Challenges and Novel Approaches

Virtual Production (VP) techniques are claimed to be changing areas of filmmaking but how might an artist from outside these industries and these modes of production use them? VP has been promoted as an accessible filmmaking technique in recent years. However, as a specialist area of filmmaking, and one built around meticulous planning and pre-visualisation, what barriers might a new, non-filmmaker, user experience? Is it possible to achieve satisfying results on a relatively limited budget? In our practice-based project, an artist brought an experimental approach to making and a conceptual interest in the techniques themselves, rather than a way to achieve pre-visualised shots and looks. The focus was not on evaluating VP’s effectiveness as a production pipeline, but on how VP constraints and assumptions are navigated and challenged by an artist from outside established film/media production practices.