Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1495092
E P I C G A M E S | P E R S P E C T I V E 7 7 Around the turn of the century, the first iteration of a backing was hand-painted on canvas. Today, some of these are still in circulation and make up about one-third of all backing rentals. Then came photo backings, which are the most used backing today. These have been printed on a variety of materials over the years, such as vinyl and cotton, with finishes including gloss and matte. An alternate technique, known as a matte, was a form of special effects photography making it possible to combine two or more elements into a single, final image. The foreground image, which usually included the actors and a set piece, was combined with an image of a desired background, often created by Illustrators. These two images would be combined to create a third, and final image using mattes to frame out each image in the composition process. A more complicated technique, traveling mattes, allowed the shape of the mask to change from frame to frame. These mattes enabled greater freedom of composition and movement but were more difficult to accomplish. The use of bluescreen and greenscreen simplified the traveling matte technique and allowed for actor action against an image which would replace the blue or green background later, in post. This process gave filmmakers a wider playing field, but there were downsides; a blue or green glow on the actors; filming action against an unseen image; and a post-production process which happened long after physical production wrapped and out of sight of the show's Production Designer. Now, with the prolific use of computers and advanced programs in every Art Department, technological progress has brought LED Volume walls and an amazing program called Unreal Engine (UE) into our midst. Last November 2022, the ADG education department partnered with Epic Games to create educational content for the Art Directors Guild. Epic, the creator of Unreal Engine… which, according to their website, is "the B. DAWN SNYDER INTRODUCING THE PRESENTERS AT EPIC'S NANT STUDIOS VOLUME STAGE IN EL SEGUNDO. MILES PERKINS, EPIC GAMES (FOREGROUND); FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: MATT MADDEN EPIC GAMES, PRODUCTION DESIGNER ANDREW JONES, PRODUCER CLINT SPILLERS AND DP BAZ IDOINE. C. PRODUCTION DESIGNER ANDREW JONES AND DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY BAZ IDOINE INTRODUCING THE PROCESS. D. PARTICIPANTS IN THE VOLUME DISPLAYING A SALOON INTERIOR. E. REVIEWING AN ENVIRONMENT PANOSPHERE WHICH MIGHT BE USED AS THE BASIS OF A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT BUILD. B D C E