How Netflix 1899 Pivoted From Location to Virtual Production

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In prep since 2018, Netflix series 1899 was planned to shoot on location in Spain, Poland and Scotland. When the pandemic hit, the show pivoted wholesale to virtual production. 

The only problem was, there was no VP stage big enough to house a project of this scope. 

Showrunners Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, creators of supernatural drama Dark, set their period mystery on a migrant boat sailing from Europe to the United States. 

“We started out as a pan European show in multiple countries, a big travelling circus, before Covid hit,” says Philipp Klausing executive producer 1899 and Dark Ways MD. “Volume technology was just emerging. We ended up shooting 90 per cent of the show in a studio environment over nine months.” 

Netflix co-financed the build of new VP facility Dark Bay at Studio Bablesberg under the management of bo Odar and Friese’s production outfit Dark Ways. 

The showrunners sought advice from Barry Idoine, the DP who had shot episodes of The Mandalorian. They hired Framestore, Oscar winners for virtual production vfx on Gravity, to become the show’s VFX and VP producers. 

“The main challenge was the fact that the volume didn’t exist before we started shooting,” explains James Whitlam, MD, Episodic, Framestore. “It meant an enormous amount of testing. We had a test volume in London but it was nowhere near the same size so we couldn’t tell if it would work on screen. When we wanted to be testing on the actual Volume, they were still pouring the concrete floor for the stage. It compressed our R&D into an incredibly uncomfortable place.” 

The set would have to convincingly display life at sea. Large physical sets of the ship were constructed and background plates were shot on the ocean for rendering in Unreal. The stage included rain and water atmospherics designed so that it wouldn’t damage the set. The alternative would have been to shoot in a tank with water canons and greenscreen.  

“The actors said they felt the environment was authentic and that they even felt a bit sea sick at the beginning,” Klausing says. “At some point they said they no longer noticed the projection.” 

The 4,500 sq ft of shooting space surrounded by an LED wall contained a motor-driven 360-degree turntable which allows filming of real sets from different angles without conversion times.  

“The original idea was to give us faster access to the stage to build big sets for the engine room or 20m wide decks but it also enabled us to shoot very efficiently,” Klausing explains. “You can have your camera in the same direction but rotate the stage and set up the reverse shot with the same base lights very quickly.” 

According to Whitlam they achieved their targeted of recording more than half of the entire production in camera without needing much in the way of additional post treatment.  

Klausing adds, “Not every showrunner is capable of doing [a show in VP]. It is highly technical. You need to understand how to work in a volume.” 

Friese told Deadline that the experience will help filmmakers to think of stories differently. “Once you start working with it, it makes you write scenes differently. It allows you to explore things you might not be able to explore on a natural set.”