Directors&NewTechnology:DemystifyingMoCapandVirtualProduction
Virtual Production (VP) is growing in capacity and use, and yet there is a skills shortage. Motion Capture is being used more and more in games, VR, TV, and film with new studios being opened all over the country. Find out more about how to use these new mediums to tell stories on screen with director and Virtual Production supervisor Chris Bouchard as well as MoCap and cinematics director John Dower. Award-winning director Emma Sullivan will be moderating this session.
Throughout this webinar, John, Chris, and Emma will be covering everything from virtual scouting, sets, locations and cameras, to working with LED walls, real-time engines, and workflow. They will also be discussing digital performance, MoCap in games, MoCap in film, digital doubles, crowd work, and animated/virtual characters, and more!
This session will be taking place via Zoom on Tuesday 25 April from 6-7:30pm.
If you would like to send John and Chris a question in advance, please send this to [email protected] by Friday 14 April. We will then try to address this throughout the session.
BOOK HERE
Accessibility
BSL interpretation will be present for this session. If you have any questions or accessibility requirements, please contact [email protected]
About John Dower
John Dower was a musician, then actor, then runner and eventually 1st AD. He trained in Direction at the Northern Film School Leeds and Polish National Film School in Lodz, graduating in 1994.
He has directed many short films over the last 30 years, appearing in over 70 film festivals worldwide and winning many awards including in Cannes, Chicago & Locarno.
He has Directed over 80 episodes of Television Drama including Wolfblood (CBBC), Casualty (BBC), Eastenders (BBC) & Silent Witness (BBC).
Since 2007, he has also worked in Games & interactivity - directing Cinematics & Voice on productions including Milo & Kate (Lionhead/Microsoft), 007 Legends (EON/Eurocom),* GTA V online* (Rockstar/Take 2), Space Marine 2 (Games Workshop/Focus Entertainment/Saber Interactive), NDA (Realtime/Codemasters/EA) & NDA (Supermassive/2K).
In 2014, John co-founded www.themocapvaults.com - the World's Premier Motion and Performance Capture School, which teaches predominantly actors, but also animators and Directors, in UK, USA, Canada, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Australia & Mexico. In 2022 his book "Performing for Motion Capture: A Guide for Practioners", co-written with Pascal Langdale, was published by Methuen Drama.
John is a Trustee at The Directors Charitable Foundation working on the Get Directing! initiative and teaches regularly on the Games Design & Development MA at NFTS.
About Chris Bouchard
Chris is a virtual production supervisor at Final Pixel and an award-winning film director. As a technologist he has worked for leading VFX and virtual production studios Industrial Light and Magic and Lux Machina, operating large LED Volumes at Pinewood and Warner Bros Leavesdon. He recently worked on the Volume team for Antman and the Wasp Quantumania (2023) which used ILM's cutting edge 'Stagecraft' toolset. He's a keen developer of new filmmaking technology and the creative and logistical possibilities realtime engines are starting to enable for directors and DPs, to work creatively and efficiently or to visualise shots in advance.
Chris is also a film director and member of Directors UK. He has directed several action feature films and the award winning short The Hunt for Gollum (2009). His films usually leverage the latest technology & VFX techniques, cameras and workflows including Hackney's Finest (2014), The Little Mermaid (Netflix, 2018) (as co-director) and Sci-Fi feature Awakened Dreams (2024).
About Emma Sullivan
Emma is an experienced director of film and TV, working across all genres from thriller and fantasy, to drama and comedy. Most recently, she helmed the massive Netflix series, One Piece, based on the incredibly popular Japanese manga. Her recent TV credits include: The Watch (BBC/AMC), Doctor Who (BBC/Bad Wolf), Silent Witness (BBC/A&E), and Call the Midwife (BBC/Neal Street).
Additionally, she has equal experience directing action and VFX sequences, along with quiet scenes of emotion. All the while, creating worlds and emotional stories with a light touch on set.
One of her shorts, After Tomorrow, that she also wrote, was nominated for a Palme d’Or and won many awards worldwide including Best Short Film at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
She also writes, with a feature she hopes to make soon - and therefore has an appreciation of how hard it is to write a good script.