Masters of the Air
Orchestrating the epic aerial sequences of WWII bombing crews
Client
Apple TV
Location
UK
Sector
Film & Television
Services provided
Storytelling
Filmmaking & Animation
Technology
Virtual Production & 3D Visualization
Dimension, a Journey studio, was part of a team of studios providing virtual production services for the epic aerial sequences of WWII bombing crews for AppleTV+’s series “Masters of the Air”.
The great LED screen in the sky
A great application of LED volume shooting: the show’s cast playing pilots were filmed inside a life-size B-17 cockpit mounted on a huge motion rig. We surrounded the entire setup with an LED volume, which displayed pre-rendered flying and battle scenes.
This immersive filming environment meant that the actors were genuinely immersed in their scenes, with accurate sightlines to everything happening around them. The filmmakers also gained the advantage of interactive lighting, something you simply don’t get when shooting against a green screen.
Dimension, a Journey studio, built the virtual environments that were played on the LED volume for the actors, and in the design of these, we focused a lot on authenticity. The team did extensive research into the areas where the flights/battles would have taken place and built landscapes to match them. So any land or locations seen both by the actors on set, and by audiences at home, were completely accurate to what would have been the reality during these WWII dogfights.
The virtual environments featured were all built for the LED shoots using Unreal Engine, which enabled us to deliver volumetric clouds, lighting, and look development, all of which contributed to the epic visuals of this show.
“Virtual Production LED walls, like those used on Masters of the Air, are changing how VFX scenes are filmed by immersing the performers in simulated environments.”
— The Credits