Australian film director
Clayton Jacobson first had the idea of improving the
green screen that was then in use when filming a TV ad for detergent in 2003. Watching his son playing
videogames and seeing the 3D technology used in them gave him the idea. Eventually, in 2016, Jacobson and his son made one of the prototypes for a virtual production stage in their shed, using a set of LED screens. However, he could not get anyone to take an interest in developing the technology further, so gave up on it. Other filmmakers had also caught on to the idea though, and in 2018 an Australian
cinematographer,
Greig Fraser, used the technology to film the
Star Wars franchise
spin-off series,
The Mandalorian (released 2019). Instead of using the green screen during the filming stage, the team combined
post-production with the production stage of the series. They installed huge LED walls linked to powerful computers that ran
Unreal Engine gaming software (used for
Fortnite, among others). They called this soundstage "the volume", a term already used to refer to a stage where
visual effects techniques take place. Since its inventive use in
The Mandalorian, which used
ILM's
StageCraft, the technology has become increasingly popular. Miles Perkins, industry manager of film and TV for
Epic Games and maker of the
Unreal Engine, estimated that there were around 300 stages by October 2022, increased from only three in 2019. Most of these were built during or after the
COVID-19 pandemic, when
lockdowns meant that
production studios had to find ways to produce films without traveling to other locations. In March 2023, the world's largest virtual production stage was opened at the
Docklands Studios Melbourne, in the city of
Melbourne, Australia. ==Terminology==