We caught up with Geoff Smith, Anthony Jacques, and Jesse Rosen, three exceptional educators and industry professionals with decades of experience across film, television, commercials, and virtual production. Drawing from their extensive careers, they shared insights into camera & color workflows, motion control, and the evolving realities of modern production.
Here’s what they each had to say:
Geoff Smith
ARRI ALEXA 35 • Color & Workflow Specialist (AbelCine)
From your experience as a DIT, what’s the biggest mistake people make with exposure or color workflows?
Inadvertent, or even intentional, under-exposure remains the most common issue I encounter in camera original files. The legacy of latitude-constrained 'video' cameras remains strong in many circles. My advice is to think of light as the fuel a camera runs on: more is almost always better. Reducing signal levels, either on set using a LUT or later in post, has zero downside.
What should cinematographers and camera teams really understand about ARRIRAW when planning a shoot that goes from set to post?
ARRIRAW remains one of the most flexible and usable RAW formats available. Because it's both uncompressed and unencrypted, it actually demands less of your post environment's compute resources than some other RAW video formats. As long as you plan effectively for your shooting ratio, you might be surprised how easy this format can be to work with.
At 24fps, ARRIRAW on the ALEXA 35 maxes out at roughly 2TB/hour (when shooting in 4.6K 'Open Gate') with a data rate of 4.5Gbit/s. For smooth post workflows, storage needs to sustain a read speed of at least 0.56GB (560MB) per second, which is usually well within the capabilities of commonly available solid-state drives. Obviously, higher frame rates will increase this requirement. With proper planning, ARRIRAW is far more approachable than many filmmakers expect
Anthony Jacques
TechnoDolly • Motion Control & VFX Supervisor
For someone new to the TechnoDolly, what’s the most important concept to understand before trying complex moves?
Understanding a system’s limitations is critical. One of the worst things you can do is promise a client something that isn’t achievable. On the planning side, know your MATH. Understand physics, lensing, film backs, composition, timing, and motivation. Working on rigs like the TD is a form of animation.
After working on projects like Severance and major studio films, what separates a good motion control shot from a great one?
Blocking and performance. I only get hired to do shots that can’t be done any other way, but every memorable shot or sequence fits inside the broader story being told. The best motion control shots strike a balance between accepting the reality unfolding on screen and leaving the audience wondering, “How did they do that?”
Jesse Rosen
Virtual Production Systems & LED Volume Integration (AbelCine)
Based on your experience designing virtual production systems and working with LED volumes, what usually breaks first in virtual production?
The problems I see people experience on VP shoots are more often than not caused by not having spent enough time in pre-production planning the shoot, creating assets, and having a comprehensive shot list. With virtual production, filmmakers need to know what needs to be done beforehand to make the best use of their budget and minimize the time needed in post, fixing shots that could have been perfected in camera.
What excites you most about where LED volume–based virtual production is heading, and what skills should filmmakers start building now?
The most exciting promise of LED volume-based virtual production is the ability to shoot in locations that are impractical or impossible to shoot in physically. Historical or imaginary environments can be simulated for the camera as well as the cast and crew, providing a sense of “being there” that can’t be obtained when shooting on a green screen. This allows for more adventurous lighting and blocking choices by the crew, and more authentic performances by the actors, all while being able to monitor a final or close-to-final image on set
