Given that I retired shortly before LED screens came into common use on set, I can't speak from experience, but if and when a few studios pony up for semi-permanent installations -- and once the initial costs have been recovered -- they might save on labor costs. From what I've seen, those screens do at least half the lighting, with reflections that enhance the reality of th image in the camera. A DP still has to do is accent and enhance the lighting of characters -- fill light on the side that doesn't face the screen, and backlights to separate those characters from the background -- but here won't be as much need for a small army of grips and set lighting techs to hang and illuminate backings, be they old-fashioned painted canvas or trans-light backings, then to wrap those backings, the lights, and cable once the shoot is over.
A similar thing happened back in the mid to late 80s with the "Fisher Light," an enormous, dimmable softbox used to illuminate picture cars for auto commercials, which provided a "liquid light" effect that made those cars look so good in product shots. When they first came on the scene, a crew of grips and juicers had to rig them from chain motors on a sound stage or location set (the latter much more difficult), then power the light ... until a smart studio in the South Bay installed one on a sound stage and left it there, after which lots of commercial production companies flocked there to shoot.
Of course, my fellow below-the-line workbots won't be happy about any of this -- nor would I if I was still working -- but it seems inevitable. The only constant is change, and from what I can see, the new digital technologoy is only going to make life harder for many of the on-set crew people in Hollywood and beyond from now on.
If the price of set building materials goes up, that will drive further use of virtual sets via the massive LED screens (used in "The Mandalorian," among many other shows) that can be put together in almost any size to provide hyper-realistic backgrounds for just about any scene a director wants to shoot. Those babies aren't cheap, but I can see entire sound stages being equipped with semi-permanent installations so that productions would only have to supply the digital data for whatever background their show needs, and presto: start filming.
This would allow above-the-line talent to remain in LA rather than travel overseas .... at least until every studio on the planet has those LED screens. But by then, most of us will probably be running from wildfires, massive storms, endless droughts, and/or catastrophic flooding, not to mention the Zombie Apocalypse.
I'm trying my best to call balls and strikes.
Hey, you're doing it well. I took a while to catch on to your posts, but now I look forward to each new offering.
An excellent point about LED screens. It's becoming a fait accompli with the economic of the new Hollywood.
Given that I retired shortly before LED screens came into common use on set, I can't speak from experience, but if and when a few studios pony up for semi-permanent installations -- and once the initial costs have been recovered -- they might save on labor costs. From what I've seen, those screens do at least half the lighting, with reflections that enhance the reality of th image in the camera. A DP still has to do is accent and enhance the lighting of characters -- fill light on the side that doesn't face the screen, and backlights to separate those characters from the background -- but here won't be as much need for a small army of grips and set lighting techs to hang and illuminate backings, be they old-fashioned painted canvas or trans-light backings, then to wrap those backings, the lights, and cable once the shoot is over.
A similar thing happened back in the mid to late 80s with the "Fisher Light," an enormous, dimmable softbox used to illuminate picture cars for auto commercials, which provided a "liquid light" effect that made those cars look so good in product shots. When they first came on the scene, a crew of grips and juicers had to rig them from chain motors on a sound stage or location set (the latter much more difficult), then power the light ... until a smart studio in the South Bay installed one on a sound stage and left it there, after which lots of commercial production companies flocked there to shoot.
Of course, my fellow below-the-line workbots won't be happy about any of this -- nor would I if I was still working -- but it seems inevitable. The only constant is change, and from what I can see, the new digital technologoy is only going to make life harder for many of the on-set crew people in Hollywood and beyond from now on.
Once again, thank you.........I think
If the price of set building materials goes up, that will drive further use of virtual sets via the massive LED screens (used in "The Mandalorian," among many other shows) that can be put together in almost any size to provide hyper-realistic backgrounds for just about any scene a director wants to shoot. Those babies aren't cheap, but I can see entire sound stages being equipped with semi-permanent installations so that productions would only have to supply the digital data for whatever background their show needs, and presto: start filming.
This would allow above-the-line talent to remain in LA rather than travel overseas .... at least until every studio on the planet has those LED screens. But by then, most of us will probably be running from wildfires, massive storms, endless droughts, and/or catastrophic flooding, not to mention the Zombie Apocalypse.
So there's that.
Well wrought and well written, as always❤️