Demystifying Virtual Production: Inside "Doomscroll" with Director John Michael Riva Jr. and Cast at Mammoth Film Festival.

Join Inde as she interviews writer/director John Michael Riva Jr., as well as actors Ariana Ron Pedrique and Jack T. Gibson, as we uncover how groundbreaking virtual production technology is reshaping the industry. The conversation reveals the creative journey behind condensing a feature script into a compelling six-minute proof of concept. Ariana shares what she found remarkable about her experience acting on a virtual set, while Jack opens up about his debut on both sides of the camera. 

Our conversation also navigates the vital connections between talent and crew that fuel this vibrant industry. As part of the Cinematography for Actors community, we are committed to nurturing these relationships and offering invaluable resources to keep you informed and inspired. From exclusive vendor discounts to educational content available through our YouTube courses, there's a world of opportunities awaiting you to enhance your filmmaking skills. Stay engaged with us through our podcast and newsletter, and be part of a community dedicated to the art of storytelling and the continuous evolution of filmmaking.

For our listeners, CFA’s teamed up with We Make Movies to get you a discount on production management services, including access to comprehensive production insurance and workers' comp for your next shoot. 

Visit wemakemovies.org/insurance and use code CFA23 on your intake form for 10% off your quote.

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Cinematography for Actors is a community aimed at bridging the gap between talent & crew through our weekly podcast & community events. Our weekly show supports the filmmaking community through transparent, honest & technically focused interviews with the goal of elevating the art of effective storytelling.

Transcript

Virtual Production in Cinematography for Actors

Speaker 1 0:00

The cool takeaway for me would be that you should shoot on virtual production and we should make it affordable and accessible , so that it's not something that , like you , just have to do via an educational sample or pay a lot out of pocket because it's a pretty awesome tool .

Speaker 2 0:14

Great technology yeah .

Speaker 3 0:17

This is the Cinematography for Actors podcast .

Speaker 4 0:20

More than a podcast . Cinematography for Actors is a vibrant community devoted to bridging the gap between talent and crew . Each week , our show offers transparent , insightful conversations with industry leaders . We unveil the magic behind the scenes , from candid discussions about unique filmmaking processes to in-depth technical exploration . Join us in unraveling the intricacies of filmmaking , one episode at a time . It's more than just cameras and lenses we aim to inspire , educate and empower as we peel back the curtain on the art of effective storytelling . Now on to the episode .

Speaker 3 0:55

Hi everyone and welcome back to another Cinematography for Actors podcast . I am your host and also one of the filmmakers represented in this interview , so I'm going to be doing both things . I'm Indiana Underhill and I am joined with a wonderful cast and crew . Here we have John Michael Reva Jr .

Speaker 3 1:10

director and writer of Doom Scroll , which is what we're going to be talking about . We have Ariana Ron-Pedrique , which is our wonderful actor , and as well , another wonderful actor , jack T Gibson , who you know is behind the switcher and doing some of our interviews , but is now center stage here on the couch . Welcome everyone .

Speaker 3 1:25

Hi , we wear a lot of hats here I am so excited that cfa can represent doom scroll , which is premiering here today at mammoth film festival so this is this is awesome . I have always wanted to . I was the dp on this project and I always wanted to dp a short . That was this short , um , mikey , can you talk about ? Compared to Terry , which we were on this podcast last about , which was 20 minutes , six minutes short . How does that change ?

Speaker 2 1:50

as a director , how does it change ? Gosh , it feels great because anything for me that's over like 15 minutes .

Speaker 2 1:59

I'm just sitting in the cutting room just like oof know , yeah , I hate to say that but , um , very proud of that film and even though it's 21 minutes , yeah , uh , very stoked to have that be its thing . But for a six minute teaser proof of concept , yeah , um , everything changes . The the shooting days change , the attitude change changes , uh , it's , it's flashier , it's shinier , it's faster , um , and it's harder , I gotta say it's a little harder , sell it quicker you have to sell the story .

Speaker 2 2:30

You gotta tie all the bows quick . You don't have 21 minutes to be like no , we got time . This character character can arc in a little bit .

Speaker 5 2:37

But like , if you have six minutes and four characters like , you gotta be quick you're right , that's what I wanted to ask you actually , like , did you have trouble choosing which like scenes you wanted to show on those five minutes ? Totally ?

Speaker 2 2:52

and that like is a great way to say that this is based off a feature . So I stole like six pages from a feature yeah made it into like a six minute thing and so , yeah , it's hard to choose , right , not include things that you want to include . You know it's like a weird way to articulate that , um , but again , like having four characters that you got to tie the bow in six minutes is like rough yeah but great , it's a good exercise now , ari , this is .

Speaker 3 3:24

You're a very experienced actor . You've been on , you've been in movies , you've you've uh , you know been in very famous episodic television . Um , working on this was shot in a virtual production volume , so everyone knows . But working in short form like this with Mikey for the first time directing you , how did this experience differ from the other ones ? What was unique about this one ?

Speaker 5 3:45

You know , I think that's a great question , because every project is completely different depending on the team of people that you're working with , and this team in particular , and it's not because you guys are here , but it was so cool to work with you . Um , literally , I just no . I'm being honest , like I I love the script . I remember reading it and I was just laughing already and I was intrigued . I wanted to know more , uh , which I know was very important , and this was a whole new experience for me . I , like you said , this was my first time working at a virtual set . It was . It was pretty cool , it was . I think it actually helped me because you didn't have to work your imagination so much . You could actually see , you know , the whole set surrounding you . So it was a very I don't know , it was like effortless fun .

Speaker 3 4:39

Um , yeah , it was an awesome experience . Amazing and jack , this was your first role ever yeah , what was that timer ?

Speaker 4 4:46

yeah uh , it was wild .

Speaker 1 4:49

It was wild , um . I mean , it was definitely a cool experience having been on the other side of the camera we have some exciting news .

Speaker 3 4:57

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Speaker 1 5:16

And being able to like step into that other side was very incredible and very , very educational and I really enjoyed it and loved it and I was so grateful for the opportunity . It was specifically cool because it was a lot of firsts it was my first time on the other side of the camera , but it was also my first time on either side of the camera working on in virtual production and I feel really grateful that I got to experience my first role on a virtual production , which is so helpful we've talked about before . Like the idea of of acting for a tennis ball is a lot harder when you know I'm trying to figure my shit out and I don't have to guess so much what , what I'm look , even if , even if you know you're shooting and I'm looking away from the , the volume , like I still know what it looks like behind me and I can picture that continuation for what I'm looking at which is cool and to paint a picture , it would be that or green screen right , and green screen is like a void of green .

Speaker 1 6:17

Yeah , she's like it's all imagination , right yeah ?

Speaker 3 6:20

and now we featured like multiple locations in six minutes . So we built a living room out , we built a uh , a pirate ship and a beach . So for all of those , those within the same , like eight by 10 , you know set . So for all of those , how did your direction change , knowing that , performance wise , they're kind of stuck in the same spot ?

Speaker 2 6:43

Yeah .

Speaker 3 6:44

Like how does that change to know when the blocking really is limited to a small space ?

Speaker 2 6:48

Yeah , because you have basically like this carpet , which I don't know if the camera can see , but it's like 10 by 10 . And it's like wearing a VR headset If you move too far , it'll warn you like hey , watch out , bud . So it's like I had to remind myself too , which helped , because then I reminded them like hey , we're on a pirate ship . And then it's like , oh , yeah , right , like of course we're seeing it because it's around us , but I'm just like , okay , this is moving , you know , and like also having to remind them emotionally like , okay , we're here . You were just in a living room , like let's be equally like freaked out about it , which is like normal stuff . So it wasn't too different for me , it was just like the space stuff , but they did a great job . These are these two actors are wonderful with just like receiving notes and just pivots you know , and just little like tweaks , really good listeners , which I love .

Speaker 2 7:40

I love listening .

Speaker 3 7:41

Yeah , so yeah . Now what are the if ? With one word or maybe like one line what is the biggest takeaway you want people to have from Doomscroll ? Biggest takeaway Maybe each of you could answer .

Speaker 2 7:55

Yeah , I'll give my short answer and I'll let them talk . I think I love horror films that have humor in them . So if you're a little scared and you laugh a little like I think I do in my job Great Blending that genre is kind of scary , but if you do it right , it works , and some of my favorite movies have that . So I want you to be spooked and I want you to giggle great ari .

Speaker 5 8:17

How about you ? I think I also want them to want to know more , to being tweaked to be like oh , this was so fun .

Speaker 3 8:27

What's next , exactly ?

Speaker 1 8:28

yeah , jack um , well , since they both addressed story elements , I think the cool takeaway for me would be that you should shoot on virtual production and we should make it affordable and accessible , so that it's not something that you just have to do via an educational sample or pay a lot out of pocket because it's a pretty awesome tool .

Speaker 2 8:48

Great technology . Yeah , good answer .

Bridging Talent and Crew

Speaker 3 8:50

Thank you so much for joining us today for the CFA Podcast , for this short little episode . Of course , we are so excited to watch it today . Thanks , everybody .

Speaker 1 9:00

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