Poor Things, the Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated film starring Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, was brought to life with a mammoth virtual production set-up powered by PIXERA technology.
Key to the creation of much of the visual effects behind Poor Things was a virtual production rig utilizing no less than 2,400 individual LED cabinets, with content rendered by four custom-built, PIXERA ONE media servers.
Overseen by the film’s virtual production supervisor/operator, Adrian Weber, the huge virtual production stage comprised more than 6,400 square feet (600 square meters) of INFiLED INTI 2.6mm LED wall, along with more than 1,500 amplifiers (outputting a peak power of 360kW) and 5.5km of cabling. This gargantuan set-up, weighing more than 21 tons, was constructed around the physical set representing the steamship on which Bella embarks on her journey of discovery from Lisbon in the company of debauched lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo).
The background was made up of multiple computer-generated and composited pre-rendered video layers by Union VFX, played back from multiple PIXERA media servers in perfect sync, with the remainder of the film shot on traditional sets, confirmed Weber. “It was a massive studio build—a full two-floor ship complete with furniture, paintings and everything… it was incredible. That whole part was shot on the stage in front of the LED. There was a lot of glass, a shiny floor, lots of reflections—everything that’s [usually] a bit tricky. The result was that you felt really immersed in the world of the film.”
