Cutting Edge
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“KILIAN’S GAME”, a Collaboration between Sony Group and Hollywood exploring Innovative Film Production Technologies
Apr 22, 2022
Profiles
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Yoshikazu Takashima
VP Advanced Technology
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
Distinguished Engineer
A Film Production Project Utilizing Sony’s Technology to the Maximum
A car goes up a winding road on a precipitous cliff. The camera follows the vehicle from above. It finally arrives at an old mansion. A woman welcomes KILIAN as he disembarks the car, and the two-exchange mysterious words. Nighttime sets in. Two suspicious Japanese-looking men have entered the mansion and seem to be searching for something. As they leave, one of them sets the room on fire in a fit of rage. The flames spread across the floor and walls…(You can watch the full “KILIAN’S GAME” film)
“KILIAN’S GAME”, which feels like the beginning of a suspense drama, is a short film created by Sony Group, its partner companies, and rising Hollywood creators. It showcases full of new filmmaking techniques born from the combination of creators’ ideas and various technologies in Sony Group. We created a 10-minute film and a Behind the Scenes (BTS) video that is about 7-minute long.
It all began in 2021. Within the Technology Strategy Committee, a cross-divisional initiative within Sony Group, the new Content Technology Strategy Committee was formed, aiming expansion of technology utilization in the entertainment business. This marked the start of this film production project.
Sony Group has wide variety of technologies and ideas that can be utilized in the entertainment industry, but it is difficult to use them in the commercial film production without real-world testing. So, we decided to run our own film production to test out these new technologies and overcome challenges. We also thought this would be an excellent learning opportunity for engineers, who get little chance to be directly involved in film production, to exchange opinions with creators, collaborate, and expand various possibilities.
Sony Group Technologies Used in the Production
The production was a collaboration between two units based in Japan and the US (led by Sony PCL in Japan, and Sony Pictures Entertainment in the US). The film was shot, edited, and completed without any travel between the two countries (US unit shot scenes with the main character and the heroine, and Japan unit shot the scene with two villains).
Let me introduce some of major Sony Group technologies used in the production.
- Virtual production
US unit production site (the entrance and rooms of a mansion near Los Angeles) was captured in 3D and recreated at the “Virtual Production Studio” operated by Sony PCL at the Kiyosumi Shirakawa BASE. 3D background image synchronized with the camera work was displayed on the large screen of Sony’s Crystal LED B-series, developed by Sony for virtual production, and the film was shot with the cast acting in front of it. This approach realized completely natural look of the film as if all the scenes were filmed in person at the mansion in Los Angeles. Virtually recreating the filming location in a totally different place minimizes the production of sets and frees filmmakers from physical and weather constraints, giving much better production management capability. There is a scene in the latter half of “KILIAN’S GAME” where the mansion is set on fire, demonstrating that scenes which may be difficult to shot physically can also be easily realized. Additionally, virtual production results in an accumulation of 3D data which can later be reused.
- Airpeak, a professional drone
Sony’s professional Airpeak drone was used to film both the beginning and the end of the film, resulting in lively and powerful images thanks to its stable high-quality camera work.
- Xperia™ Smartphone
The cameras used for the production were connected to Xperia 1 III / Xperia PRO 5G Smartphone to send the main camera feed and the Behind the Scenes (BTS) live stream between Los Angeles and Tokyo in real time. Both US and Tokyo unit directors oversaw production setup and lighting conditions, and gave advice each other. This allowed the US and Japan teams to share the same vision and helped them seamlessly finish the film.
Additionally, the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera and the α7S III mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera were used for the filming. The production also used Sony’s unique tools such as Ci Media Cloud Services (the platform for efficient content delivery and collaboration on cloud) and the 360 Virtual Mixing Environment (high-quality recreation of the sound mixing studio environment with headphones by utilizing spatial sound technology).
Going forward, we would also like to try utilizing AI technology for sound and image processing as well as budget and schedule management through script analysis.
Technology Exists to Realize Creative Visions
One of the challenges we faced during the production was the team building, how to make both Japanese and the American production teams united without face-to-face meeting at all. And also, how the production crew can make best use of new technologies they had never used before was important. We decided to take “Creator First” approach rather than mandating use of particular technologies, and had many conversations. We believe it was best for filmmakers to try new tools without pressure, which will expand their imagination and lead us to the great content to be produced.
The directors proposed five scenarios initially. Out of various concepts, such as Westerns and science fiction, we decided to use a classic western-style mansion as the set because it would allow us to take most advantage of our virtual production technology. The production crew shared our vision to recreate a realistic look and feel by virtual production as if the scene was shot at the location, and we got to work.
Recreating the Hollywood production site at the virtual production studio in Japan
Also, we received a request from the director of photography to use an anamorphic lens, suitable for cinematic wide-screen film. It has some difficulty to be used in virtual production, but we prioritized the director’s vision and used the lens both in Japan and the US. We managed to overcome the challenges through detailed testing. We believe this demonstrates the fact that technology exists for the purpose of realizing a creative vision.
We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the creators involved in the film production, including “I got to use a lot of new technologies,” “I was very excited to use sound production facilities the same room used or major Hollywood film,” and “The experience interacting with Sony Pictures’ senior engineers will be very valuable for my future.”
Establishing a remote production environment between Hollywood and Japan
A Learning Tool for Film and Sound Production
We believe one of the most significant benefits of this initiative is the fact that we own all the rights related to the short film we created. We will use them to, for example, evaluate new filmmaking technology such as the AI dubbing technology developed by another team.
The Behind the Scenes (BTS) footage is also an important asset. Usually, production scenes for new movies are top secret, no way for outsiders to see them. This BTS footage will be utilized as a learning tool to help our future film and sound production. (You can watch the “KILIAN’S GAME” Behind the Scenes (BTS) video)
The Content Technology Strategy Committee which has just started its second year, will aim to utilize the knowledge gained from this project to take on new challenges in production, such as sharing assets between different entertainment fields and contents, including music videos and games.
We received a great excitement from many Sony group colleagues to this initiative internally. There are still a lot of technologies which could potentially revolutionize the entertainment industry. We want to boost the level of communication and show the power of Sony Group.
Message：Yoshikazu Takashima
I studied applied physics. I was involved in Blu-ray Disc standard activity at Sony, and moved to the US in 2007. Currently, I am in charge of technology development for entire studio business, testing new technologies such as remote content creation, and also running projects to evaluate Sony’s products and technologies together with Hollywood communities. I believe anyone at Sony can pursue their own interest regardless of what they have worked on before.
It is also a wonderful work environment for people who want to get involved in the content industry, with the a lot of opportunities to try new technologies.
