Producing Virtual Production: A Deep Dive with Barry St. John Ep. 61

Barry St John is a producer focused on virtual production and emerging technology in films.
St John's initial focus in film was in camera and lighting, but was quickly redirected upon working with VFX producer Joyce Cox on Men in Black 3. Cox's mentorship on MIB3, The Great Gatsby, and The Jungle Book gifted St John the experience to later produce some of the most complicated films in the business such as The Lion King, Ready Player One, and Mufasa the Lion King.

The key to line producing digital content is communication and structure within the digital facility that is feeding a shoot. St John and his company Strange Reality have built a pipeline and reporting structure focused on tracking, scheduling and quota for all the standard departments in production. The Story department, Art Department, Virtual Art Department, LAB, Editorial, asst. directors, and producers all use the production tracking developed by Strange Reality. The Lion King was produced over a 2-and-a-half-year period while a Pixar or Disney fully animated film typically takes 3-5 years. This kind of efficiency on a photo real fully animated film has engrained St John as a Player in the industry.

The evolution of the virtual production toolset continues to define new paths for filmmakers to effectively and efficiently layout their films. While the technology runs wild and people dive head first into the Virtual production pipelines, understanding the toolsets available, what to do with the tools available and their limitations is key.

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 Introduction

0:08 Introduction of guest

1:18 Barry St John's journey into film production

5:02 Pursuing a passion for virtual production

10:01 Spielberg's use of virtual production

15:00 The Complex Job of a Production Manager

20:01 Tailoring tools for virtual production

25:01 Planning for digital filmmaking

30:01 Virtual Production: A Tool for Filmmakers

35:01 Benefits of Virtual Production

40:00 Quality Film Production

45:01 Visual Effects & World Development in Filmmaking

50:00 Virtual Production Processes

55:01 Working in Virtual Production

1:00:00 Becoming a Visual Effects Producer

1:03:14 Outro

Connecting with the Guest:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bstjohn54/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bstjohn54?lang=en

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomeCGPro

#VirtualProduction #VFXProducer #DigitalWorkflow