Virtual cinematography

Virtual cinematography is the set of cinematographic techniques performed in a computer graphics environment. This includes a wide variety of subjects like photographing real objects, often with stereo or multi-camera setup, for the purpose of recreating them as three-dimensional objects and algorithms for automated creation of real and simulated camera angles.

Virtual cinematography allows among other things physically impossible fight scenes in The Matrix films, the physically impossible camera runs and the crowd simulations as can be seen in The Lord of the Rings (film series) and the airport terminal that doesn't exist looking very real and existing in the Pan Am (TV series) that aired in 2011–12.

Virtual Cinematography came into prominence following the release of The Matrix trilogy especially the last two, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. The directors, Andy & Larry Wachowski, tasked visual effects supervisor John Gaeta (who coined the phrase) with developing techniques to allow for virtual "filming" of realistic computer-generated imagery. Gaeta, along with George Borshukov, Kim Libreri and his crew at ESC Entertainment succeeded in creating photo-realistic CGI versions of performers, sets, and action. Their work was based on the findings of Paul Debevec et al. of the acquisition and subsequent simulation of the reflectance field over the human face which was acquired using the simplest of light stages in 2000. Famous scenes that would have been impossible or exceedingly time consuming to do within traditional cinematography include the burly brawl in Matrix Reloaded where Neo fights up-to-100 Agent Smiths and at the start of the end showdown in Matrix Revolutions where Agent Smith's cheekbone gets punched in by Neo leaving the digital look-alike naturally unhurt. Another series of films of the same era that utilizes virtual cinematography heavily with trademark typical virtual camera runs that could not be achieved with conventional cinematography is the The Lord of the Rings filmatization. Other studios and graphics houses with ability or near the ability to do digital look-alikes are in the early 2000s include: Sony Pictures Imageworks (Spider-Man 2 and 3 2004, 2007), Square Pictures (Animatrix - Final Flight of the Osiris prequel to Matrix Reloaded 2003), Image Metrics (Digital Emily 2009) and then later on in 2010s Disney (the antagonist CLU in movie Tron: Legacy 2010) and Activision (Digital Ira 2013)

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