The Batman’s Gotham skyline seen in the first trailer image was filmed using ILM’s Stagecraft, the same technology as the Volume from The Mandalorian.
The stunning first trailer image from The Batman shows the caped crusader against the Gotham skyline, which was reportedly filmed using ILM’s Stagecraft. Stagecraft as a term is a technical aspect in filmmaking that includes constructing scenery, focusing lighting, designing costumes, audio engineering, and makeup. While stagecraft stretches all the way back to ancient Greece, the more modern applications of the practice utilize a curved cocoon of glowing LED screens, sometimes called the Volume, to recreate locations on a soundstage.
Loosely based on green screen technology, the Volume was first used to some degree in Disney’s live action The Lion King and was developed by Industrial Light & Magic. Also experimented with during the pilot for The Orville, the technology wasn’t fully implemented until the filming of The Mandalorian. The popular Disney+ series used high definition LED screens that could be filmed. These screens, which were part of the background, floor, and ceiling, could be rendered in real-time and track the motion of the camera, allowing for parallax motion. This technique in filmmaking allows a number of shots to be done “in-camera,” meaning not as much post-production is needed. Now, it’s been confirmed The Batman used a similar technique during production.
Oh hello Gotham! This is familiar *wink* @m_santana *wink* #TheBatman
When you get to work with @GreigfraserD and @danlemmn and create shots like this 😁#stagecraft #ilm https://t.co/tPGUpqQFnA
— Charmaine Chan (@charmainesmchan) October 14, 2021
Charmaine Chan retweeted director Matt Reeves Twitter post of the first trailer image of the Gotham skyline, revealing The Batman was filmed using ILM’s Stagecraft. Chan, credited as the Stagecraft operator for the film, tagged the post with “#stagecraft,” and said it looked “familiar” with a few cheeky winks. Fellow VFX artist, Demis Lyall-Wilson, also retweeted Reeves’ post, saying that it’s “nice to see the real-time in-camera vfx work [their] team completed last year.” Lyall-Wilson also said the team is “really proud” of the work they did and they “can’t wait to see the rest.”
View Chan’s and Lyall-Wilson’s tweet about The Batman‘s use of Stagecraft above and below.
Nice to see the real-time in-camera vfx work our little team completed last year getting out there in these first teasers… Really proud of this stuff. Can’t wait to see the rest… https://t.co/AGQKsNRBDv
— Demis (@demis) October 15, 2021
