Camera Chameleon - The Creative Impact of Tracked Tangible Interfaces for Virtual Film Pre-Production

Shows such as The Mandalorian have used Virtual Production (VP) to great creative advantage. This combination, of tracked cameras and virtual environments, gives film crews the flexibility to rapidly iterate ideas and discover the best telling of their story within the time constraints of movie production. We explore if the same ideas can translate to pre-production, specifically if similar advantages can be found during the storyboarding phase. Developing a novel virtual production interface named Camera Chameleon, we compare user interaction against traditional keyboard/mouse peripherals when creating storyboards. Similar expert-rated quality is measured on storyboard output, however, users report increased enjoyment and complete shots more quickly. Novice users explore more when using our approach, demonstrating its creative potential.