Home Applications The Digital Age Stone Age
The Lion and the FirebirdRising fire, an early human, flees with her small daughter KONA pursued by a violent warband the Lion Men. When she is inadvertently saved by one of the last Neanderthals, the two struggle to communicate and find trust. But when the Lion Men return, they become the key to one another's survival and the future of humanity
The Lion and the Firebird is an independent epic action-adventure film set in 40,000 BCE during the last conflict between early humans and Neanderthals. A world of fierce creatures and breath-taking landscapes, where the forces of nature could determine the fate of the entire species. To bring this ancient world to life in all its glory, Director Daniel Byers and DP, Zachary Ludescher, turned to virtual production technology and some real-world lighting power from Litepanels Gemini panels.
T-Rex Sized Budgets Not Required The filmmakers wanted to take the audience back to this time when the Ice Age was oncoming, triggered by massive volcanic activity. Originally planned as a physical production, the team soon realized it was unrealistic to achieve the five different unique environments required for the film in the limited production schedule of five days. Instead, they opted for virtual production technology in the Unreal Engine, which allowed them to build a virtual world and populate it with volcanoes, weather effects, and active lightning and eruptions.
Virtual production proved to be the most efficient solution for the film's tight budget and production schedule. It made making prehistoric filmmaking as easy as a walk in the (Jurassic) Park, allowing the film to look and feel great without the resources of a major studio. This is a grant-funded student film - my thesis at Columbia University, says Daniel. So, it was a kind of case test, can you use this technology at an independent scale budget level to make something that looks and feels great?
Daniel and Zachary worked with environment designer Francisco Barros, who previously worked on Disney's The Mandalorian. He came on board and built all these beautiful unique environments, says Daniel. The filmmakers then shot the epic short film in an epic short time using virtual production, with only minimal special effects added in the editing room, as they did most of the work in-camera.
We had caves, steps, plains, erupting volcanoes, and lightning-filled stormy jungles, all in just one prep day
Daniel ByersDirector
alt= data-nectar-img-srcset=https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lion-and-firebird-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lion-and-firebird-300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lion-and-firebird-600x337.jpg 600w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lion-and-firebird.jpg 811w sizes=(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px title= />
Making Tracks to Virtual Production But creating a world before history came with its own set of challenges. One of the biggest hurdles the team faced was figuring out how to bring the lighting to life to be both convincing and immersive. Zachary, who has a background in visual effects, was eager to explore the possibilities of LED volume walls and virtual production. The physical space was at World Stage in Manhattan, says Zachary. It is an older space, converted into an LED studio with a three-wall volume rather than a curve.
Utilising the studio's MoSys tracker with a Sony Venice camera, and the LED stage, they achieved beautiful levels of immersion. Zachary came up with a brilliant lighting design that made it possible for us to quickly realize scenes, crucial for finishing the movie in time, says Daniel. With a steep learning curve, the first few days were challenging, but the crew soon found a rhythm and were moving quickly in no time.
alt= data-nectar-img-srcset=https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lighting-setup-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lighting-setup-300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lighting-setup-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lighting-setup-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lighting-setup-600x338.jpg 600w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lighting-setup.jpg 1920w sizes=(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px title= />
Zachary had just one day to rig his lights for the five-day shoot, and he had to contend with unique challenges such as the emitted light from the floor, which created an under light that could kill the illusion. When do you get underlit by grass? he says. Definitely not a thing that happens in real life. He spoke to the tech crew, who told him he could turn off the floor everywhere except where it needed to be rendered out. Once I did that, it was a game changer, he adds.
Selling the effect To create active lighting effects, like lightning flashes and erupting volcanoes, Zachary cued events in Unreal and disguise to trigger the effects. A lightning flash or the explosion of a volcano in the background emits some light from the volume, but not anywhere near enough. So, we must supplement it, says Zachary. To supplement the effects, he used Litepanels Gemini 2 1 LED panels. The Geminis came in particularly useful because we could hook them up to the DMX board and I would cue them all together, he says. Let's just say all right, cue lightning and then they would trigger the lightning effect in the volume at the same time as they triggered the lightning effect from the Geminis, which was really crucial for selling the effect.
alt= data-nectar-img-srcset=https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/desk-768x432.jpg 768w, htt
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
New appointments to Screen Australia board 7 July 2026
The Albanese Labor Government has made new appointments to the Screen Australia board.
Dr Tania Chamber...
07/07/2026
The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck t...
07/07/2026
Berklee College of Music Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's...
07/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists train the immune system to make antibodies against numerous HIV strains Preclinical findings mark progress toward a long-sought vacc...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Open source AI has shown how quickly developers can innovate when models, data a...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Home Applications The Digital Age Stone Age
