The DP ofPercy Jackson and the Olympianstalked in length about his time using The Volume technology filming the newDisney+series.
The technology was first used inThe MandalorianSeason 1, where it was heavily praised.
It was a new take on it.
It was fresh, completely new characters–younger, closer to the book.
And again, more down to Earth.
So yeah, we didn’t want to do it like the movie at all.
There was no discussion about that.
It could be very subtle, but it’s very precise at the same time.
Part of that new take was how the Disney+ series embraced modern technology, such as The Volume.
The goal was trying to do it as much as possible.
And then it became quite a challenge because it’s more difficult to get realistic in The Volume.
So we worked really, really hard by working in the background, the texture, the depth…
It’s not gonna link.
So, this is technically very complex.
But we’ve done a lot of things…
The interior mat, I think, was very successful.
Almost all of it is in camera.
We relight everything, we place lights in the background on the wall…
So I would put fog far away…
So we changed the size of the trees because of this.
So we extended the pine trees… [So they were] not as fat.
The first trees that they did were very fat.
And after we went longer with more depth, [trying] to create [the best picture].
And so I had car lights on The Volume when the mom is talking with Percy.
But the trees that you see behind her are virtual, and theyre live.
We’re shooting them live.
So that was very, very successful, very cool.
I was very happy.
It’s very difficult.
It’s a lot of work.
It was really great.
Half of the car is fake, and everything next to the car is fake.
In front, we put a little fence, and we mix the herbs.
And this is where it gets very difficult to match these two worlds… And it’s almost all in camera.
There’s little touch-up.
Because, of course, you have to do some touch-ups.
I’m using Cooke lenses, a Venice 2, and we have three of those cameras and lenses.
It’s not gonna work.
We have to be like, on the dot…
So this is done in The Volume.
All of it is picture-perfect like there is no touch-up.
This one is one of the best Volume [scenes] ever.
I’m pretty sure.
It became very complicated… And then all the animation painting goes around.
We can change the speed of this.
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But we don’t change the speed of the boat because that’s going to be a problem.
And we have some guys hiding in the water just moving the boat left to right.
And we very slowly move the camera and nothing movie, it was all planned and everything went around.
And it’s really cool.
Because a lot of shows now are very desaturated…
It’s harder to keep color than not keeping it, and the show has colors.
You know it’s colorful.
It’s not over the top.
I don’t think it’s cheesy colors.
And to shoot that was, I mean, people have to see the making of this.
I mean, it’s phenomenal because they’re just in the middle.
It’s going to be pink.'
And the match is perfect.
And it’s these moments are very, very rewarding and fun for us.
That was the main goal all the time.
Keep Percy a normal guy.
We want to keep it as a character-driven story.
And that was my take when I read the script.
And when I had discussions with the showrunners.
It was clear for them it was the main theme to keep.
The Increasing Use of The Volume Across Projects
The Volume technology can certainly work wonders.
That entire sequence was incredibly well done and is a perfect example of how to use the technology.
As great as The Volume is, the technology has been growing out of favor with fans.
It has started to become extremely noticeable in lots of projects, creating an inauthentic and cheap to everything.
It can stick out like a sore thumb due to its tendency to require circular set pieces.
Some productions can also do a poor job of blending the physical stage into the large LED backdrop.
So far, it’s safe to sayPercy Jackson and the Olympianshas done a commendable job with the technology.
The Volume will next be seen inAvatar: The Last Airbenderand Star Wars Disney+ seriesThe Acolyte.
Percy Jacksonis now streamingon Disney+.
