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‘HIGH’ – The Proof is In the Shoot

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PHOTO ©HIGH THE FILM, LLC

HIGH tells a story of telecom tower climbers. Inspired by a real life tragic accident, all too common in the industry. The narrative takes place in the aftermath of the death of tower climber as the rest of the cellphone tower climbing crew and its foreman push on through a Buffalo winter to finish the always dangerous job.

The director and co-writer of HIGH, Tisha Robinson-Daly, was working as a project manager in the telecom industry when she heard of the terrible incident that cost a tower climber his life. Joel Metz was 28 years old and a father of four, when a snapped cable atop a 240-foot tower killed him instantly. Robinson-Daly wants to reveal more of the reality of the human aspect, and cost, to our ultra-connected world. A reality that is often unseen but sadly marked by the fact that Metz’s death is not unusual among tower climbers, in fact, OSHA considers it the most dangerous job in America.

Of course filming a story that would take place high atop telecom towers would need some creative thinking to capture the realities of the profession without actually climbing the towers. Virtual production techniques enabled the Philadelphia-based filmmaker Robinson-Daly and co-writer, fellow filmmaker Jonathan Mason to safely capture the tower top shots in proof-of-concept footage for HIGH. Over a two-day shoot they wanted to prove the viability of using virtual production for the movie. The resulting five-minute teaser of scenes successfully shows that the technique was indeed the way to get amazing footage which appears to be shot high up from the tower top on an indie film budget.

The filmmakers and their team, led by producers James J. Yi and Ben Baker, shot the tower scenes in the disguise & ROE Visual Virtual Production Accelerator in Chatsworth, California. The facility features an immersive stage comprised of ROE LED panels, running on the disguise virtual production workflow. It allowed the creatives to have control over virtual backgrounds built in Unreal Engine and on-set interactive lighting that showcased the intensity of the climbers’ dangerous working conditions.

PHOTO ©HIGH THE FILM, LLC

Making it Possible

Robinson-Daly and Mason first turned to virtual production as invited participants in Tribeca and Epic Games’ “Writing in Unreal” initiative, where they learned to use the Unreal Engine toolset to ideate and previsualize. When they successfully applied to Epic Games’ MegaGrant program, they had the support they needed to move forward to test the use of virtual production. For the HIGH proof of concept, they used Unreal to design sets, animate characters and simulate various camera angles at a fraction of the cost of traditional pre-production methods.

The value of the pre-production workflow of using VP was noted by Geoff George, the DP for HIGH. He said in a Filmmaker article on the shoot, “In indie productions, we’re often given a much shorter amount of time at any given location or stage because of the budget. If we can preview our scene before ever stepping on set, we can really get through shots and setups more efficiently than if we were finding them on the day or just walking onto set with a basic shot list. Virtual production is not all about the volume.” Baker agrees, “The advantages it gives you in shooting can potentially save you money if you do it correctly. With VP, what you’re getting is better usage of time and more on-set control.”

Shooting in the LED volume, virtual production allowed the filmmakers to create realistic parallax effects otherwise unavailable through traditional green screen and blend the virtual backgrounds with practical foreground tower sets. “Stage work is always more controlled, but we had a first-day confidence and energy that felt new,” say the filmmakers. “Because we were shooting on the Accelerator stage we had access to [disguise’s] workflow expertise, which was key to calibrating the lenses, the screen, practical lighting levels and the color profile we’d pre-determined.”

PHOTO ©HIGH THE FILM, LLC

Realizing the Shots

The filmmakers enjoyed a very collaborative experience on set during two shoot days and a pre-shoot day.  “During the shoot, it was incredibly rewarding to see the disguise platform power the digital content seamlessly from shot to shot, take after take.  The absence of any technical difficulties made for a collaborative creative environment where the art of filmmaking was unfolding in real time,” says Addy Ghani, Vice President of Virtual Production at disguise. “When the tech platform just works, take after take or changing from one unreal scene to the next, the creatives can just focus on what they do best instead of abrupt interruptions. The disguise platform allowed the two days of shooting and the pre-shoot days to occur without any drama or difficulties. The director, the DP, and the producers all had the freedom to experiment more.”

The two shoot days were extremely productive with day one spent constructing the tower top and capturing 12 shots, under two lighting conditions: five for night, seven lit for golden hour. On day two they broke down the previous set and assembled the tower leg set before capturing 12 more shots with three lighting conditions for an overcast day, dusk and night lighting. “You have an enormous amount of control over the environment,” explained Baker. “You can shoot golden hour for two days straight.” Baker is also the Virtual Production Line Producer for HIGH, he is the co-founder of MESH, a virtual production consultancy and line producing group.

Yi noted, “When you look at the monitor you can really see the actors are in this element, in this landscape and it transforms the way you perceive shooting a scene like this.  Now that I understand what the volume can offer, I see it not as a replacement for filmmaking but as another tool that can really enhance your filmmaking style.”

PHOTO ©HIGH THE FILM, LLC

Positive Proof

Being able to capture the reality of the narrative in a far safer environment will be essential to the success of the film. Baker states, “We can deliver something that people haven’t seen before, that people are kind of exhilarated by and wondering, ‘how did they shoot up that tower?’ It should seem dangerous. It should seem like these people risk their lives every day, because they do, and that’s what we want to deliver.” The proof of concept footage certainly shows that through virtual production HIGH can deliver that experience to audiences.

“We were very happy with the footage and, ultimately, can confidently say we achieved what we set out to do: demonstrate safe and repeatable ways of shooting tower scenes on a reasonable budget while retaining as much creative control as possible,” the filmmakers report. Robinson-Daley said, “For me, it definitely has gone beyond meeting my expectations. You have an idea what you think it’s going to be but on the stage, you see the technology, you see the brains behind the technology. It’s just unbelievable.” Mason adds, “You step into the actual stage and it’s just like the scale; everything feels massive. It’s the most collaborative environment I think we’ve ever been in terms of being on a set.”

The proof-of-concept was featured at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film/NEXT Global Summit on Virtual Production. As the experience of Robinson-Daly and Mason attests, the Accelerator Volume and disguise virtual production workflow serve as a safe, efficient and budget-friendly solution for filmmakers exploring new ways of storytelling. You can view the HIGH proof-of-concept teaser at bit.ly/HIGH.PLSN and learn more about the film at www.highthefilm.com

HIGH Teaser Credits:

  • Written and Directed by: Tisha Robinson-Daly, Jonathan Mason
  • Producers:  James J. Yi, Ben Baker
  • Executive Producers: Hannah Weyer, Tony Yang
  • Director of Photography: Geoff George
  • Production Designer: Rebekah Bukhbinder
  • Virtual Production Line Producer: Ben Baker of MESH
  • Virtual Production Supervisor: Nhan Le
  • Virtual Art Dept. Lead: Kourosh Pirnazar
  • VP Stage Manager/disguise Op: Carlos Perez
  • Key Grip: Amy Snell
  • Grip: Gavriel Dorien
  • Gaffer: Jeremy Graham
  • Prop Master: Leo Rodriguez
  • Camera Dept: Dane Brehm (DIT), Samuel “Bowtie Sam” Kim (1st AC)
  • Safety Coordinator: Toy Lei
  • Production Coordinator: Jay Lim
  • Additional Support: Bryce Norbitz & Casey Baltes (Tribeca), Addy Ghani  (Disguise), Carlos Perez (Disguise), Carin Mazaira (Disguise), James Blevins (Mesh), Karen Dufilho (Epic Games), Stowe Story Labs, Bianca Halpern (BeCine), Kim Villa (MBS Equipment Rentals)