Making of A Common Thread | Ultra Low-Budget Virtual Production

For the Four Points Film Project Nov 11-14, 2022, Many Worlds Productions made 6-minute film "A Common Thread" in just 3 days from story development to post-production, using Unreal Engine and virtual production techniques. The film is set in medieval times, with a backdrop of scenes from Unreal Engine Marketplace, which we rear-projected live behind the actors in our 25'x10' studio. The tapestries and crest were created with AI image generator Midjourney AI. Long shots were done as animation in Unreal Engine with MetaHumans created from actor scans.

You can see the film here:    • A Common Thread - Four Points Film Pr...  

Schedule:
- Pre-production, before the contest started: Testing our rear projection setup, scanning the actors, scouting and creating potential locations.
- Friday: Story dev and script based on assigned genre, line, prop, and character. Finding and setting up locations in Unreal Engine.
- Saturday: Shooting scenes and recording voiceover. Unreal Engine scenes were rear-projected behind our actors and updated on the fly as we composed the shots. Shooting took 7 hours.
- Sunday: Gathering music/SFX, creation and animation of animated scenes, tapestry images, editing.
- Monday: Editing, color correction, uploading the film and paperwork.

The virtual production setup cost around $1000 beyond the camera and lights, which we already had.

Equipment: (prices are approximate)
- Camera: Sony a6500 with Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS lens
- Projector: Optoma GT1080HDRx Short Throw Gaming Projector ($850)
- Rear projection screen: JWSIT 120 inch Outdoor Movie Screen ($200)
- Lights: Various lights we already had around the studio

Software:
- Unreal Engine Marketplace scenes: $50
- Polycam smartphone app for scanning heads: Free
- Unreal Engine: Free
- MetaHuman Creator: Free