Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1539634
Joachim prefers filming on location, and the scenes from the 1990s to the present were shot on the first floor of the house location. However, mature greens outside the windows that could not be cut, and the quick turnarounds needed for the earlier period changes made shooting on location impractical. I proposed a larger studio build and the use of virtual production and in-camera VFX to solve the location challenges and the need for controlled, detailed period environments. In the story, Gustav also later recreates his childhood home in a film studio, so this mirrored the narrative in a satisfying way. Proposing virtual production was daunting, even though I was in the middle of a PhD researching it. No one on the production had worked with it before—except me, to some extent—but everyone was curious. Since we were shooting on 35mm and had no virtual production experience as a team, we decided to test it. We built a section of the living room with the hero window, teamed up with Lux Machina and VP Nordic, and tested different LED setups, plates and 3D environments. Mock-up digital streets, moving cars, wind in the trees—all tested with real plants and bushes in the foreground to bridge the physical and virtual. We reviewed the results in a cinema and discussed them in detail. Seeing what worked, knowing the final environments would have more time to be developed, and understanding what to remove or adjust gave us confidence to proceed. It was a heavy addition to an already tight prep, but it was also exciting to imagine creating historic scenes entirely on a soundstage with in-camera effects— reducing post-production and giving us control over light, weather and period accuracy. In the end, achieving complete photorealism within the time available was challenging. VFX supervisor Esben Syberg and virtual production supervisor Rasmus Eriksson were key in helping me push the process, refining the environments and removing anything we didn't believe in. Because of budget restraints, we decided in the end to render out plates from the 3D environments, but we kept the real-time workflow and had days in the studio where we adjusted the views in real time before final renders. On the shoots, the digital views worked fine, and for the scenes with little Gustav as a boy, running to the hero window looking at the passing cars; it was obvious what advantages a technology like this can bring. He saw the cars outside and was reacting to them. A. OSLO MUSEUM WALLPAPER REFERENCE. B. 1930S LIBRARY. THE HERO WALLPAPER WAS SOURCED FROM A LOCAL FAMILY-RUN PRODUCER WHO SALVAGES HISTORIC PATTERNS FROM OLD BUILDINGS AND HAND- PRINTS THEM. SET PHOTO. C. 1950S YOUNG GUSTAV WATCHING MOVING CARS. FILM STILL. D. 1930S REFERENCE OF ORIGINAL LIVING ROOM. E. 1930S LIVING ROOM ON STAGE. SET PHOTO. F. 1950S LIVING ROOM. SET PHOTO. B C A