He had a hand in the creation of the
fantastical rocky formations of the
Red Planet and oversaw the seing
for the ancient Direwolves. Calgary-
based location pro Mike Johansen/LMGI
shares the ups and downs of doing the
job in the digital age…
WORKING
WITH VFX
by Mike Johansen
@open_myke
There's been a peak of interest this year in new
technology to help us do our jobs as scouts and LMs.
Especially as those jobs became more out of focus for
some of us as we emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown,
or as I call it, "Lock-up!"
I had worked with the VFX team on
Lost in Space S2
to create the Red Planet in the Badlands of Alberta,
Canada. It was that and really several projects between
2018 and 2019 that allowed me to understand how
the technologies of photogrammetry* and LiDAR*
impact the department in regards to production
schedules and scope of work.
The pace of technological advancement is staggering at
this moment in near-history. By the time you read this,
some of it may already be out of date! But these few
projects offer such interesting & unique applications,
I'd be remiss not to mention them here.
Photos courtesy of Mike Johansen/LMGI, except where noted.
The Badlands, Alberta, Canada. Inset: The Badlands as seen in
Lost in Space episode "The Red Planet," photo courtesy of Netflix
