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Non-linear Production

Non-linear film production today
A brief history of live-action filmmaking
Pixar, you lucky bastards!
Applying the Pixar process to live-action filmmaking
Virtual lighting with photographic renderers
The future: Avatar with live-action story reels
Case Study: The Giver

Non-linear Production
A modern production method comprised of tools and techniques, typically computer-based, that allow films to be created in a different order than the traditional linear order of: screenplay → principal photography → edit. Instead, traditional tasks are done "out-of-order" and, most importantly, continuously re-visited and improved. The extreme flexibility and iterative development is believed to improve the quality of the final film.

See also non-linear editing.

Over the last 10 years, I have developed innovative technical and artistic/workflow solutions for filmmakers that address the unique requirements of non-linear film production in live-action films.

During that time, other productions (most notably James Cameron's Avatar) have independently developed and/or discovered a number of similar tools and techniques. There are still two primary areas preventing non-linear production from being adopted today, and I have developed solutions for both of them: virtual lighting and live-action story reels.

Virtual lighting is a process that allows a traditional live-action DP (like Roger Deakins) to light a virtual production in both pre-production and production using their existing knowledge and toolset. (Think of it as performance capture for a DP.)

Live-action story reels are a critical improvement to pre-production and story development that has already proven to be hugely effective on 3D animated films at studios like Pixar. With story reels, a live-action film can be made over and over and over again, iteratively, improving each time. Just like story reels in 3D animation, the decisions and lessons learned each iteration carry directly into the production phase.

I'm currently developing a short film and a related feature film that demonstrate the story reel process I advocate — especially the virtual lighting approach I have been working on the last few years and believe is essential to using story reels effectively on live-action films.

In addition, I have developed over a dozen feature film projects that are specifically designed around the strengths of non-linear film production. (In other words, the stories are tuned to extract the maximum "bang for the buck" from the non-linear production process.)

Contact

If you're a filmmaker or producer and the non-linear production approach I have described here resonates with you, let's talk. I'm eager to get into pre-production with this stuff on a major studio production on either another filmmaker's film (as a story supervisor) or as a director on one of the original films I've developed.

I can be reached at erich.ocean@me.com, or by phone at (323) 482-3204.
I'm based in Los Angeles, CA.