Acclaimed commercial production company BIG DEAHL PRODUCTIONS, in tandem with Resolution Productions Group, have announced the availability to the industry of a pioneering new technique the two companies have developed by integrating LED -Light Emitting Diode - screens in-studio to allow production to shoot several locations all in one day. The companies have named this new process Environmental LED Immersion or ELI.BIG DEAHL PRODUCTIONS CHICAGO / LOS ANGELES is home to directors David Deahl and Todd Klein, among the Top Tabletop Directors in the U.S. The company formed a strategic alliance in July 2015 with Resolution Productions Group in Chicago.
BIG DEAHL director Todd Klein, gaffer Marty Rhomberg, and Resolution Productions Group have been working together for several months to perfect this new technique -- one that allows directors to shoot multiple virtual locations in a single day, while never leaving the stage.
David Deahl, Founder/Director, BIG DEAHL PRODUCTIONS, said, The new Environmental LED Immersion process could seriously change the way much of location production needs are met in the coming years. The use of LED light panels is only going to get better as the technology and use of these methods progresses. Resolution Productions Group has given BIG DEAHL the opportunity to exploit this exciting medium and help to innovate the way production can become more versatile and efficient in the future. If used properly, this method can not only stretch a location budget, but will also allow for many more diverse locations to be shot all within one day.
Adds Stephanie Franke, VP/Creative Director, MARC USA/Chicago, Those of us in the advertising industry are often forced to pull rabbits out of our hats, and this LED-centric technology can help us do just that! Integrating this process into the production pipeline is a huge win for creatives, producers, clients, and, of course, viewers. Environmental LED Immersion (ELI) delivers a much more realistic sense of place' in a way that better accommodates the budgets of many of our clients.
Said Snake Roth, Executive Producer, MARC USA/Chicago, When a creative department thanks you for sending them to a screening demo on their own time and dime - you know it was worth it. We are a fairly small agency and work with limited budgets -- the Environmental LED Immersion technology will open some doors that have previously been closed to us. The folks at BIG DEAHL have spent a lot of time perfecting this for advertising. Thanks to them for teaching this old dog a new trick!
Jeff Facklis, Resolution Owner/Executive Vice President, said, Every day, someone thinks of another benefit to using this method. I'm thrilled that there could potentially be so many more uses for our LED panels.
GENESIS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL LED IMMERSION PROCESS:
The genesis of this process began when David Deahl and Marty Rhomberg attended a seminar hosted by the late Fletcher Camera in early 2015. The presenters were a small group of techies who were demonstrating how some of the visual effects were created in the movie Gravity. Deahl and Rhomberg were shown a room that was built from LED panels with a gimbaled-rig to support the actors at various angles. Once video images were fed into the panels, a virtual outer space was created. However, the resolution of the LED panels was too coarse to use as the actual background for Gravity, so these images were only used as ambient light and reflections within the final film.
After this demonstration, Rhomberg and Klein realized that Resolution Productions Group had a huge inventory of LED panels. They knew there was something about this versatile process that could be offered to the advertising industry. Klein immediately saw the potential in using higher resolution LED panels as the actual backgrounds for commercial, industrial and multi-media productions.
To pursue this new LED production idea for commercial use, Klein and Rhomberg began testing Resolution's LED panels on some small tabletop subjects, to see if the eye would accept the imagery. Klein used a longer lens with a fast T-stop and placed the focus on the foreground subject, allowing the background to fall out-of-focus. The fact that we were able to present a subject on a lakefront beach, and a half hour later to present a similar subject in a window display on Michigan Avenue, simply blew my mind! Klein said.
These first tests were so successful that they decided to test something on a larger scale to see how far they could push the technique. Klein and Rhomberg went to an L-train platform in Chicago, as Klein shot a background element of an L-train. Once back in the studio, they set up lighting to mimic the L-platform location. With Rhomberg then standing in front of the LED background (approx. 10' x 16'), Klein shot them together, and the effect was stunning.
Remarking on the test video, Rhomberg commented, I was totally convinced that I was actually standing on that L-train platform!
Because Rhomberg could see the action being projected onto the LED panels, he was able to interact with the virtual L-train in real time, as it pulled away from the station. This process could serve as a huge benefit to actors who normally would be looking at a blank green wall behind them, says Deahl. The results of this initial test were so positive, that Klein and Rhomberg are currently involved in further tests to see if it would be possible to shoot a full figure subject. To accomplish this, they would build up a high-gloss floor off the stage floor so that the LED panels can be lowered to drop below the raised floor, thus creating a seamless transition between the LED panels and foreground.
Says Klein, We're very optimistic that we will be able to duplicate an actual location with a full, head-to-toe, subject standing
