It is not surprising that Hollywood was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. After all, film sets often require hundreds of people from all over the world to come together to work close together. In early spring 2020, production was effectively shut down until further notice. But slowly, silently, new films – films that were shot during the pandemic – began to emerge. How? Filmmakers have found ways to adapt and are now getting even more tools to help them film safely.
Not every film needs high-tech solutions, of course. Smaller movies like Netflix Malcolm and Marie or the recent Sundance film How it ends, are able to survive with smaller teams in quarantine. But for bigger, more complicated projects – the kind that needs visual effects and lots of extras – the technology is filling the gaps in socially distant footage. See how.
Cloud destroying
One of the most innovative adaptations to date comes from Frame.io. The company is best known for providing web-based tools for teams to review journals and pass notes during the editing process. Today, however, Frame.io unveiled a new service: Camera to Cloud, which allows multiple people to start working on a scene the second the director shoots it, greatly reducing the number of people on the set and increasing the number of people who can contribute from a safe and socially (very) distant place.
Here’s how it works: Let’s say you have an 8K RED camera on set. Using the Camera to Cloud system, this equipment would be connected to a transcoding box, such as a Teradek Cube 655, which takes this 8K video and makes it into a smaller 1080p file that is easier to view / share. This box is also connected to the internet, as well as a Sound Devices deck, which collects audio from all microphones on the set. As soon as someone yells “Cut!” the files are being uploaded to the cloud, where anyone with access can review them.
From there, people like executive producers and VFX supervisors can weigh notes almost in real time. Better yet, the system allows the film editor to work on the film together, even if it’s on the other side of the planet. Once the shot is complete, the video files (with separate but synchronized audio files) will automatically appear in DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut, Adobe Premiere or whatever editing software they are using. Once there, they can insert the last take on the timeline, apply effects and filters (like typing a green screen) and quickly export it to Frame.io for everyone to check and approve. Back on set, the director can review the new cut and leave notes that will appear directly on the editor’s timeline with frame precision.
Files loaded from the camera can be anywhere from 0.5 Mbps (think zoom quality) to 15 Mbps (Netflix), of your choice. The upper end of the scale is usually more than enough for something like network news and can go on to broadcast right away. For movies with a tight return, the loaded proxy files are of editing quality (and the audio, which is much smaller, is the originals) and can be cut together immediately. When the hard disk with all the maximum resolution files reaches the editing compartment, they can be switched to editing with the click of a button.
Camera to Cloud was used in a Hollywood production: Songbird. Last summer, the disastrous film, which hit video on demand in December, became the first complete production to test the beta version of the service. In truth, Songbird was the first film to start production after Covid-19’s strict California restrictions were lifted, so he had to do everything possible to minimize the crew, including shooting with RED’s smallest camera (the 8K Komodo) to that the cinematographer could also function as a cameraman. Meanwhile, six or more executives remotely watched the filming unfold.