This year's FMX (which ran on site in Stuttgart from 6-9 May and is available online, on demand, from 10 May-10 June), self-proclaimed as Europe's most influential conference on animation, visual effects, and interactive and immersive media, presented a case study on the German dystopian series Cassandra. The show was produced by Rat Pack Filmproduktion in collaboration with Netflix and was released on the streamer's platform in early February. We spoke to Rouven Dombrowski, a senior VFX set supervisor and researcher at Accenture, who took on the role of on-set and virtual production supervisor for the project.

(El artículo continúa más abajo - Inf. publicitaria)

Cineuropa: Your job title is on-set and virtual production supervisor. What does it entail, exactly?
Rouven Dombrowski: As an on-set supervisor, I am responsible for shooting the VFX-relevant shots on set (for example, ensuring the quality of the green screen, lighting, camera movement and lenses) so that they can be edited later in post-production by our VFX artists while respecting the time and budget guidelines. Furthermore, I am the contact person and production consultant for all VFX-related issues that may arise during a shoot, such as the need for new shots or changes to planned shots. Often, the locations, backdrops and props also have to be digitised. For this purpose, 3D scans are made, textures are recorded and material references are created. 360-degree HDR photos are also taken of all settings, into which 3D objects will later be integrated in order for them to be used subsequently for image-based lighting. I supervise this process. Furthermore, as a virtual production supervisor, activities such as performance capture are then added to this. That means the digitisation of human body movement using motion capture or facial capture techniques. Other areas include real-time on-set previsualisation and virtual camera workflows.

You touch on some very different disciplines. How did you get involved in this field?
I was already very interested in computers as a child. Later, I studied design at art college and specialised in computer-generated design, photography and camera technology. After or during my studies, I went straight into the film and audiovisual industry, and have been in the business for 20 years now. I like new challenges and enjoy being on the road. My job is very varied, and involves the perfect combination of creative and technical work.

When does your work start on a project?
It depends on the project and on how complex the VFX or virtual production techniques are. With Cassandra, we were involved in the process very early on, as it was about creating the main character in the show, and a lot of technical processes had to be developed. 

How did you start working on this particular series?
We have been working with Rat Pack Filmproduktion, VFX supervisor Frank Schlegel and Netflix for several years now. It's always a fruitful collaboration, also in terms of using modern technologies, which we have also used in previous productions. Frank Schlegel and Amara Palacios came to us at the end of 2022 and told us what was in the pipeline. We then had the first brainstorming sessions on how best to implement it.

What challenges did you encounter on this project?
The main challenge was that everything had to happen in camera. (Almost) all of the settings in which the virtual Cassandra can be seen had to work without any subsequent post-production VFX. We had to ensure that this worked smoothly. Stable real-time facial tracking and low latency to ensure a creative flow of speech between the actors and Cassandra were necessary. Lavinia Wilson, who plays Cassandra, was sitting in a separate room, speaking her text and being projected on the monitors on set in real time. This made it possible for all of the actors and crew to interact and communicate directly. It allowed a more natural flow for the acting, compared to a green-screen shoot. This method, once set up, was much less complicated for post-production. We also had to strike a balance between not making the 3D character “too” perfect and still conveying enough emotion. The digital version of the real Cassandra had to be clearly recognisable as the real Cassandra.

Did you have to make any compromises for technical or financial reasons?
Not really. The good thing was that it was about developing a smart home from the 1970s. The real-time facial capture techniques that were available when we started pre-production and development were already able to capture this quite well. 

What have you learned that you can apply to other projects?
Once again, it has been proven that good pre-production is the be-all and end-all for technically complex shoots. I did a lot of tests in advance and tried to think through all of the possible complications to ensure that everything went smoothly during the actual shoot. After the rehearsal and test days with the entire crew and Lavinia as Cassandra, it worked out that way for the entire shoot.