Masters of the Air is the 3rd installment of a limited series produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, following the award-winning Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Presented by Apple TV+, Masters of the Air follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air.
Industry leading Lux Machina, a company that specializes in virtual production, in-camera visual effects, display technologies and creative screens control helped realize the ambitious project. The virtual production segment of Masters of the Air was shot at Apple’s Symmetry Park in Aston Clinton, England. The production utilized 2 soundstages equipped with custom LED volumes and a virtual production infrastructure that was constantly adapted to fit the needs of production. The first volume, that was used for 75% of the shooting was 40’ wide, 30’ high, 270° around with an LED ceiling. The 2nd LED stage was a massive 110’ wide wall with very little curvature. At the time of shooting, in 2021, this was the first major production utilizing an LED volume and a virtual production workflow since season 1 of The Mandalorian, which Lux Machina was also part of designing and executing.
Lux Machina’s engagement started in pre-production, working with the Third Floor and Halon Entertainment in previz to establish the shots that would be filmed in the volume. At this time, LuxMC began to create custom tools in Unreal Engine that would be used in production. Epic Games has since integrated some of these solutions into their virtual production toolset. These tools included everything from dynamic lighting control for the Gaffer, including a “programmable sun” with historically accurate positioning, to real-time ‘flak-triggering’ for the AD. CEO of Lux Machina, Phil Galler elaborates, “So the AD would call flack, and we would have an array of buttons the TDs and operators could push that would fire off flack of different sizes, flares, explosions, custom lighting pieces that allowed for a really dynamic onset experience. It was important for us to find a way to engage the rest of production in the VP workflow. We wanted all departments to feel like they were part of it, and we did everything we could to keep them involved by creating custom toolsets that would aid them in what we were all trying to do.”
By the end of shooting Lux Machina had created over 50 custom tools to help integrate a traditional production into a virtual production. Associate Visual Effects Producer, Will Reece speaks about the importance of the ‘buy-in’ from all departments, “It can’t be seen as a department. Virtual production is a holistic way of approaching production and that needs to be considered cross-department. It’s not a tag on the visual effects. It’s not a tag on any other department. It’s how you structure your production, and that needs to go from the top to the bottom for it to ultimately be as successful as possible. Everyone has to buy into that, everyone needs to listen to the experts… and you know we were so fortunate to have a strong presence from LuxMC on the ground. Phil in particular spearheaded all of that. It’s a very hard thing to do when people don’t have experience in it and when you are breaking the norms of how you are used to doing things.”
Because of time limitations, it was not possible for a Virtual Art Department to deliver final-pixel-level content for the screens, so instead, the team utilized the volume for the realistic lighting effects that it produced on the subjects as well as reference for the actor. “The volume is a gift, it’s phenomenal. The gimbal’s moving and you’re looking at that plane and it zooms past, and you know you are in the plane and you’re fighting…” states actor Callum Turner. Also, the production used up to 16 Sony cameras at one time, and syncing them with each other and the refresh rate of the wall was no small feat. Engineers from Lux Machina and Bild Studios were enlisted to manage and maintain the extremely complicated system.
Virtual Production Producer Kyle Olson reflects on the virtual production of Masters of the Air. “Working on Masters of the Air was an exhilarating and challenging journey that pushed the boundaries of virtual production. Our goal was to create a deeply immersive environment that not only enhanced the actors’ performances but also remained true to the historical context of the series. Collaborating with Bild, and the brilliant minds at Playtone and Amblin, we developed bespoke solutions and utilized cutting-edge technology to bring the harrowing aerial combats of WWII to life. From the dynamic volumes on our UK soundstages to the intricate cockpit and fuselage sets, every element was designed to ensure historical accuracy and interactive realism. The real-time control over lighting and environment, integrated with mechanical gimbals, allowed us to capture the intensity and immediacy of the aerial battles. This project was not just a technological triumph but a testament to the power of collaborative storytelling.”
