SOLUS is a straightforward, mainstream film with swift to high pacing, targeting young adults seeking thrilling entertainment.
The film's genre and atmosphere would easily fit between the likes of ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER.
Narratively, the film is almost a chamber play, yet it unfolds in a place with diverse areas such as a vast atrium, a high-tech control room, hotel-like settings, a swimming pool, and crucially, a server core. We used the ICC Berlin as foundational inspiration for the facility's look in our teaser, which was primarily executed with CGI to save on expenses. Our intention is to shoot primarily inside the ICC Berlin, which would account for 40% of the filming. This strategy allows us to benefit from an already existing location.
Visually, the film is dark and eerie, set against the dreamlike depths of the liminal AI facility during a thunderstorm, with a beginning and ending of glaring sunshine that dry up the ground and provoke almost nightly storms, showcasing Europe’s partial transition to a tropical climate.
The atmosphere is one of numbed dystopian melancholy. Yet, there's also an underlying excitement about venturing into an uncertain future that is both exhilarating and, at times, frightening.
One of the most significant advancements in recent years has been the rapid rise of photorealistic, real-time game engines such as Unreal Engine 5. These engines have facilitated the creation of Virtual Production Volumes and the effortless production of realistic, full CG shots for film and previsualization. Another breakthrough is the development of high-fidelity CG doubles, known as Metahumans, which are readily rigged and easily produced within hours for any required actor. These doubles are fully integrated into Unreal Engine 5 and can be paired with accessible motion capture technologies like MoveAi.
Our previous projects have demonstrated the capability to seamlessly blend real-time CGI from UE5 with live action at a fraction of the typical costs. This success paves the way for a feature-length film that also incorporates traditional VFX and virtual production methods.
Digital doubles are used for action sequences but also for scenes that would require unnecessary effort to film in reality. By leveraging all available methods—including full live action, live action with VFX/green screen, virtual production, and full CG—we can always select the most effective method to create the required shots. This approach isn't suitable for every filmmaker, as many prefer to shoot extensive coverage and determine their scene's structure during editing. In contrast, our films are thoroughly storyboarded and previsualized, allowing us to know in advance which methods will be employed for each shot. This reduces the number of shooting days, simplifies complex efforts, and minimizes crew size on set. It also eliminates the need to build certain sets, thereby reducing carbon emissions and other impacts. This approach is not merely theoretical; it has been successfully implemented in our past projects.
Typically, the use of CGI is not inexpensive, but in our case, the story is set largely within one Set, for which we had already produced a significant number of models during our teaser production. This was a deliberate strategy aimed at producing a high-quality film that would be executed smartly over time on a modest budget.
A simple Virtual Production Setup using a large TV and Unreal Engine can be used to capture close-ups without the need for a green screen for more elaborate sets, as demonstrated in our short film, "In-Finite." https://vimeo.com/778334966