Virtual Production Supervisor

Job Description

Virtual Production Supervisor (StageCraft) London, United Kingdom

Description

Position at Industrial Light & Magic

The Virtual Production Supervisor is responsible for west coast oversight and integration of all physical acquisition and virtual production stage technology within the Lucasfilm Companies.

Primary Responsibilities
• Design an approach plan and/or recommendations for virtual production requests ranging from basic body mocap to complex on-set capture and visualization, working in tandem with the engineering team, show Virtual Production Supervisor, and/or VFX/Anim Supervisors.
• Work closely with Virtual Production Engineering to stay aware of all relevant active development within ILM, Lucasfilm, and Disney. Communicate clearly as a product owner/stakeholder to identify the priorities for the stage team in San Francisco.
• Work with the Virtual Production Producers and/or show Virtual Production Supervisor to generate an accurate estimate of the stage or on-set labor based on a thorough approach plan; advise on casting/sourcing talent to effectively incorporate performance capture into our prospective projects.
• Supervise the onsite stage team in assisting the virtual production needs for both ILM and Lucasfilm.
• Partners with the Virtual Production Engineering teams in planning and execution of technology development projects, ensuring that priorities are in line with show/project needs.
• Supervises demonstrations and preshow/greenlight tests to prove capabilities and potential of performance capture/virtual production.
• Advise directors on character casting and assist directors in crafting a desired performance when needed.
• Oversee Virtual Production Stage crew by providing training, mentoring, and guidance on running shoots and projects independently.
• Plans and manages the local virtual production budget and plans spending for the following fiscal year.
• Evaluate and maintain virtual production needs and standards for potential and ongoing projects, and ensure that documentation of these standards and approach plans are maintained according to ILM Best Practices.
• Train the location crew in ILM Best Practices for on-set virtual production, including body and facial capture as needed, including advising on professional photography equipment & techniques for location use.
• Create and maintain capture vendor & service bureau relationships; stay up to date on the stage capture equipment and software.
• Responsible for the delivery of good captured data that plugs into the ILM CG pipeline; work closely with show leadership to ensure that captured data integrates successfully into the ILM CG pipeline.
• Supervise motion retargeting, editing, and delivery of data shot internally or externally.
• Supervise preparation for all virtual production shoots, including scene assembly and asset preparation.
• Ensure asset and delivery pipelines are properly configured for each virtual production show. Work closely with the Virtual Production Engineering team to improve the pipeline.
• Maintain the stage technology infrastructure, including mocap systems & video acquisition and distribution; plan and supervise stage infrastructure improvement projects.
• Partners with Virtual Production Producers on space, staffing, equipment, and budgetary needs for the following fiscal year.
• Attend trade shows and travel to vendors for tech evaluations, etc.
• Supervise in-house bluescreen element shoots as needed.
• Supervises and directs facial Medusa captures on and offsite.
• Occasional travel to set and/or client meetings.

Education / Experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Film, Engineering, Computer Science, or relevant area
• 10+ years of experience with Motion Capture technology, VFX, and Physical Production.
• On-set client interaction and key creative collaboration.
• Track record of successfully delivering high-quality data in a rapidly changing environment

Required Skills / Competencies
• Advanced knowledge of on-set digital acquisition hardware.
• Advanced knowledge of all motion capture & facial capture hardware techniques, an on-set pipelines.
• Must be able to execute technically difficult work and maintain a productive attitude under the pressure of live action production.
• Proven track record in leadership and mentorship of virtual production stage crews.
• Knowledge of game engine and game-related technologies.
• Experience in a visual effects asset and shot production pipeline.
• Experience using digital content creating software such a Maya.
• Advanced knowledge of still photography, film, and video production.
• Advanced knowledge of movie lighting and stage rigging skills preferred.
• Experience with video hardware and signals, video engineering experience preferred.
• Must be highly computer literate with Linux. MAC and Windows also preferred.
• Must be an excellent troubleshooter to diagnose and solve issues in complex integrated systems of computers, video recording systems, software, and other sensor-driven systems.
• Ability to develop and debug scripts in Python preferred but not required.
• Strong comprehension of the concepts, practices, and procedures used in visual effects and film production.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and diplomacy skills.
• Must be detail-oriented, highly organized, and able to handle a variety of tasks in an efficient manner.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rj6n12-18-118-1-232-42 in your application.