Production has begun on a new film in Regina, which will be shot entirely using a new piece of technology called an LED volume wall.
Trevor Cameron, the writer and director of the film, #Vanlife, said shooting with the LED volume wall has its advantages.
“This idea of shooting on a volume wall means that I can shoot outside and not have to worry about the smoke from fires. If I want nighttime, I don’t have to wait till one in the morning when it finally gets dark,” he said.
A new film will be shot entirely using an LED volume wall. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) The wall is aimed at cutting down production time, but the process is very extensive.
“The pre-production process for volume shoots is so involved that you have to decide camera angles, you have to literally build the virtual world that the film is set in,” said Anand Ramayya, the producer of the film.
#Vanlife is said to be the first indie Canadian film shot entirely using the technology.
A new film will be shot entirely using an LED volume wall. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News)
“Not too many directors have got to use on it yet. I think that is going to change as people realize the convenience of being able to shoot at normal hours and in a more compressed time frame,” Cameron said.
The movie will be a horror and thriller film that tells the story of young adults who want to experience van life and capture that journey using social media.
There is also an Indigenous element to it. Cameron said he used his Metis background as inspiration when it came to writing it.
“The Metis have been called the invisible people because they are sometimes not viewed as Indigenous, so I just kind of wanted to bring that to the front in a story, this idea of a character who can pass for white but is Metis,” Cameron explained.
“For him as an Indigenous Metis filmmaker to tell his story, it was an exciting opportunity for us to cast a feature with such diversity,” Ramayya said.
More than 50 per cent of the cast are Indigenous.
Filming will take place over the next three weeks.