A look at virtual production, as first seen in The Mandalorian.
Lead compositor Charmaine Chan chats to Vox about the technology Disney/Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic calls The Volume – how it works, how it feels, and what it means for the future of film and television production:
One interesting effect of wrap-around LED panels: they double as a light source for the action, creating reflections on actors and surfaces which add to the immersion – and reduce the amount of painstaking keying and relighting in post-production:
In Depth Cine covers How Virtual Studio Sets Are Changing The Way Movies Are Made:
This technology isn’t used only for productions set in a galaxy far, far away. It’s also increasingly being used to tell stories set in our world, as in the series Heated Rivalry (2025). DP Valentina Vee breaks down practical techniques for ‘selling’ scenes filmed with virtual backgrounds:
Media Division takes a 50-minute deep dive into The Volume:
Unreal Engine
The real-time VFX is powered by Unreal Engine, as they themselves explain:
Cleo Abram and Marques Brownlee take a more detailed look at XR screen technology (as well as performance and volumetric capture, and the implications of their increasing accuracy and accessibility):
The Mandalorian
In their own behind-the-scenes video on The Mandalorian, Insider contrasts the process and feeling of virtual set versus green screen:
The Mandalorian director of photography, Barry Baz Idoine, describes shooting inside the show’s virtual set (via Variety):
2026 Update
The thumbnail is a bit clickbaity, but the info in the video itself is interesting. It’s less about the decline of the use or interest in the technology, and more about the learning curve of productions, creatives, and studios over the last few years. Phil Griffiths from Framesync outlines the stack of virtual production technologies, and how the best use of them involves what the best film-making always does – collaboration between departments, throughout the process (via CGY):
Try It Yourself
2026 Update – Roman and Navaz Dowling shot their Star Wars fan film, Entrenched, using Lightcraft Jetset, an iPhone virtual production app, for camera tracking (together with Blender and Unreal Engine for compositing):
We may not all have access to a giant, immersive cylinder of LED screens – but you may own a projector or LCD TV. Film Riot has some rear projection ideas you can try:
Give filmmakersworld‘s creative TV-backdrop shot a try (via No Film School):
Austen Paul uses his TV to create vibrant backdrops for his commercial videos – here’s a roundup of his tutorials:
More on rear projection, its history, and how professional shoots do it, over here: