From The Mandalorian to Pinocchio: Halon Entertainment's Insights in Virtual Production

In this episode, we dive into the world of virtual production with Meredith Brace Sloss and Jess Marley from Halon Entertainment. They share insights from their work on The Mandalorian, Pinocchio, and other groundbreaking projects

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Connect with Meredith and Jess @ Halon:
Website - https://halon.com
Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/halon
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HalonEntertainment
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/halon-entertainment
Meredith @ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithbracesloss
Jess @ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jess-marley-823a5711

Meredith Brace Sloss is a Project Manager for the Virtual Art Department at Halon Entertainment. Prior to joining Halon, Meredith has worked for companies such as Netflix, ABC Network, and the British Film Commission. Most recently she was with Lucasfilm, where she worked on Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett, as well as the upcoming season of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. At Halon, Meredith works primarily with the Photogrammetry team and internal projects. 

Jess joined Halon as a Previs artist working on titles such as Ride Along 2, War for the Planet of the Apes, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Logan, and The Call of the Wild before taking on a more specialized role as a Supervisor in Halon’s Virtual Art Department. He has worked on titles such as Red Notice, The Batman, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and a host of blockbuster level films currently in production.


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📝 SHOW NOTES & SOURCES

Halon Entertainment @ Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/halon

Lux Machina Consulting
https://www.luxmc.com

Sweetwater NEP Live Events
https://www.nepsweetwater.com

Star Wars @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@StarWars

Industrial Light & Magic
https://www.youtube.com/@ILMVFX

KitBash3D
https://www.youtube.com/kitbash3d

Walt Disney Studios
https://www.youtube.com/@DisneyMovieTrailers

Netflix
https://www.youtube.com/@Netflix

Screen Rant
https://www.youtube.com/@ScreenRant

RIT Magic Center
https://www.youtube.com/@ritmagiccenter

Seymour Marine Discovery Center
https://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu

CaseyNeistat
https://www.youtube.com/@casey

Bad Decisions Studio
https://www.youtube.com/@badxstudio

Apple
https://www.youtube.com/@Apple

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00:00 Intro
01:45 Meredith's Background
02:47 Jess' Background 
04:15 Halon's Services
05:29 Ideal Virtual Production Process
08:11 When Virtual Production Makes Sense
10:54 Contemporary Uses of Virtual Production
13:30 Making Hard Shots Easy
15:16 The Mandalorian and Lucasfilm
21:06 Virtual Scouting Process
25:08 Baking and Lighting Virtual Sets
27:22 Photogrammetry for The Sphere
34:52 New Technologies in Photogrammetry
37:36 Budget Considerations for Virtual Production
40:49 Advice for Aspiring Virtual Production Artists
50:51 Thoughts on Apple Vision Pro