Film Industry Battles Coronavirus With Technologies. How to Shoot Battle Scenes and Organize Filming in Light of the Pandemic

Amid the coronavirus shutdown — when film production in Hollywood and Europe faces new restrictions or is being halted — Russian filmmakers are looking for new ways to continue the filming process. New technologies and creative approaches come to the rescue.

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Photo from the set of “V-2: Escape from Hell”
Photo from the set of “V-2: Escape from Hell”
Photo from the set of “V-2: Escape from Hell”

For the first time in the history of cinema, an aerial battle scene will be shot inside a computer game. Director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Searching and Unfriended) will use such a technological solution for his film “V-2: Escape from Hell” — an action-packed story about the escape of Soviet pilot Mikhail Devyatayev from a concentration camp on a hijacked Nazi aircraft.

The scene will be shot during a real battle in the virtual space of the popular Russian online game War Thunder, dedicated to military aircraft and armament from the Second World War.

During the filming of the scene, actor Pavel Priluchny starring as Mikhail Devyatayev, will fight in a computer game along with the real gamers. The scenario is not predefined: a real battle will unfold in the virtual space, in which six Soviet and German jets will fight.

Director Timur Bekmambetov and the technical team will manage the filming process remotely from Moscow, while the actors will be in St. Petersburg in the pavilion of the Lenfilm film studio. The remote control of the production was made possible thanks to Microsoft Teams software products. Bekmambetov’s tablet turned into a director’s console and virtual walkie-talkie, which the director can use as if he were in the pavilion.

“V-2. Escape from Hell ”will be the first film about the war for the Z generation and will be released in 2021 in two formats: horizontal for theaters and vertical for smartphones.