Demystifying Virtual Production: Inside "Doomscroll" with Director John Michael Riva Jr. and Cast at Mammoth Film Festival.

Join Inde as she interviews writer/director John Michael Riva Jr., as well as actors Ariana Ron Pedrique and Jack T. Gibson, as we uncover how groundbreaking virtual production technology is reshaping the industry. The conversation reveals the creative journey behind condensing a feature script into a compelling six-minute proof of concept. Ariana shares what she found remarkable about her experience acting on a virtual set, while Jack opens up about his debut on both sides of the camera. 

Our conversation also navigates the vital connections between talent and crew that fuel this vibrant industry. As part of the Cinematography for Actors community, we are committed to nurturing these relationships and offering invaluable resources to keep you informed and inspired. From exclusive vendor discounts to educational content available through our YouTube courses, there's a world of opportunities awaiting you to enhance your filmmaking skills. Stay engaged with us through our podcast and newsletter, and be part of a community dedicated to the art of storytelling and the continuous evolution of filmmaking.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The cool takeaway for me would be that you should
shoot on virtual production andwe should make it affordable and
accessible, so that it's notsomething that, like you, just
have to do via an educationalsample or pay a lot out of
pocket because it's a prettyawesome tool.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Great technology yeah .

Speaker 3 (00:17):
This is the Cinematography for Actors
podcast.

Speaker 4 (00:20):
More than a podcast.
Cinematography for Actors is avibrant community devoted to
bridging the gap between talentand crew.
Each week, our show offerstransparent, insightful
conversations with industryleaders.
We unveil the magic behind thescenes, from candid discussions
about unique filmmakingprocesses to in-depth technical
exploration.
Join us in unraveling theintricacies of filmmaking, one

(00:44):
episode at a time.
It's more than just cameras andlenses we aim to inspire,
educate and empower as we peelback the curtain on the art of
effective storytelling.
Now on to the episode.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Hi everyone and welcome back to another
Cinematography for Actorspodcast.
I am your host and also one ofthe filmmakers represented in
this interview, so I'm going tobe doing both things.
I'm Indiana Underhill and I amjoined with a wonderful cast and
crew.
Here we have John Michael RevaJr.
director and writer of DoomScroll, which is what we're
going to be talking about.
We have Ariana Ron-Pedrique,which is our wonderful actor,

(01:17):
and as well, another wonderfulactor, jack T Gibson, who you
know is behind the switcher anddoing some of our interviews,
but is now center stage here onthe couch.
Welcome everyone.
Hi, we wear a lot of hats here Iam so excited that cfa can
represent doom scroll, which ispremiering here today at mammoth
film festival so this is thisis awesome.
I have always wanted to.

(01:38):
I was the dp on this projectand I always wanted to dp a
short.
That was this short, um, mikey,can you talk about?
Compared to Terry, which wewere on this podcast last about,
which was 20 minutes, sixminutes short.
How does that change?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
as a director, how does it change?
Gosh, it feels great becauseanything for me that's over like
15 minutes.
I'm just sitting in the cuttingroom just like oof know, yeah, I
hate to say that but, um, veryproud of that film and even
though it's 21 minutes, yeah, uh, very stoked to have that be
its thing.

(02:11):
But for a six minute teaserproof of concept, yeah, um,
everything changes.
The the shooting days change,the attitude change changes, uh,
it's, it's flashier, it'sshinier, it's faster, um, and
it's harder, I gotta say it's alittle harder, sell it quicker
you have to sell the story.
You gotta tie all the bows quick.

(02:31):
You don't have 21 minutes to belike no, we got time.
This character character canarc in a little bit.

Speaker 5 (02:37):
But like, if you have six minutes and four characters
like, you gotta be quick you'reright, that's what I wanted to
ask you actually, like, did youhave trouble choosing which like
scenes you wanted to show onthose five minutes?
Totally?

Speaker 2 (02:52):
and that like is a great way to say that this is
based off a feature.
So I stole like six pages froma feature yeah made it into like
a six minute thing and so, yeah, it's hard to choose, right,
not include things that you wantto include.
You know it's like a weird wayto articulate that, um, but

(03:15):
again, like having fourcharacters that you got to tie
the bow in six minutes is likerough yeah but great, it's a
good exercise now, ari, this is.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
You're a very experienced actor.
You've been on, you've been inmovies, you've you've uh, you
know been in very famousepisodic television.
Um, working on this was shot ina virtual production volume, so
everyone knows.
But working in short form likethis with Mikey for the first
time directing you, how did thisexperience differ from the
other ones?
What was unique about this one?

Speaker 5 (03:45):
You know, I think that's a great question, because
every project is completelydifferent depending on the team
of people that you're workingwith, and this team in
particular, and it's not becauseyou guys are here, but it was
so cool to work with you.
Um, literally, I just no.
I'm being honest, like I I lovethe script.
I remember reading it and I wasjust laughing already and I was

(04:07):
intrigued.
I wanted to know more, uh,which I know was very important,
and this was a whole newexperience for me.
I, like you said, this was myfirst time working at a virtual
set.
It was.
It was pretty cool, it was.
I think it actually helped mebecause you didn't have to work

(04:27):
your imagination so much.
You could actually see, youknow, the whole set surrounding
you.
So it was a very I don't know,it was like effortless fun.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Um, yeah, it was an awesome experience.
Amazing and jack, this was yourfirst role ever yeah, what was
that timer?

Speaker 4 (04:46):
yeah uh, it was wild.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
It was wild, um.
I mean, it was definitely acool experience having been on
the other side of the camera wehave some exciting news.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Cfa has teamed up with we make movies to get you a
discount on productionmanagement services, including
access to comprehensiveproduction insurance and workers
comp.
For your next shoot, visit wemake moviesorg, slash insurance
and use code CFA23 on yourintake form for 10% off your
quote.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
And being able to like step into that other side
was very incredible and very,very educational and I really
enjoyed it and loved it and Iwas so grateful for the
opportunity.
It was specifically coolbecause it was a lot of firsts
it was my first time on theother side of the camera, but it
was also my first time oneither side of the camera

(05:37):
working on in virtual productionand I feel really grateful that
I got to experience my firstrole on a virtual production,
which is so helpful we've talkedabout before.
Like the idea of of acting fora tennis ball is a lot harder
when you know I'm trying tofigure my shit out and I don't

(05:59):
have to guess so much what, whatI'm look, even if, even if you
know you're shooting and I'mlooking away from the, the
volume, like I still know whatit looks like behind me and I
can picture that continuationfor what I'm looking at which is
cool and to paint a picture, itwould be that or green screen
right, and green screen is likea void of green.
Yeah, she's like it's allimagination, right yeah?

Speaker 3 (06:20):
and now we featured like multiple locations in six
minutes.
So we built a living room out,we built a uh, a pirate ship and
a beach.
So for all of those, thosewithin the same, like eight by
10, you know set.
So for all of those, how didyour direction change, knowing
that, performance wise, they'rekind of stuck in the same spot?

Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Like how does that change to know when the blocking
really is limited to a smallspace?

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, because you have basically like this carpet,
which I don't know if thecamera can see, but it's like 10
by 10.
And it's like wearing a VRheadset If you move too far,
it'll warn you like hey, watchout, bud.
So it's like I had to remindmyself too, which helped,
because then I reminded themlike hey, we're on a pirate ship
.
And then it's like, oh, yeah,right, like of course we're

(07:09):
seeing it because it's around us, but I'm just like, okay, this
is moving, you know, and likealso having to remind them
emotionally like, okay, we'rehere.
You were just in a living room,like let's be equally like
freaked out about it, which islike normal stuff.
So it wasn't too different forme, it was just like the space
stuff, but they did a great job.

(07:30):
These are these two actors arewonderful with just like
receiving notes and just pivotsyou know, and just little like
tweaks, really good listeners,which I love.
I love listening.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, so yeah.
Now what are the if?
With one word or maybe like oneline what is the biggest
takeaway you want people to havefrom Doomscroll?
Biggest takeaway Maybe each ofyou could answer.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah, I'll give my short answer and I'll let them
talk.
I think I love horror filmsthat have humor in them.
So if you're a little scaredand you laugh a little like I
think I do in my job GreatBlending that genre is kind of
scary, but if you do it right,it works, and some of my
favorite movies have that.
So I want you to be spooked andI want you to giggle great ari.

Speaker 5 (08:17):
How about you?
I think I also want them towant to know more, to being
tweaked to be like oh, this wasso fun.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
What's next, exactly?

Speaker 1 (08:28):
yeah, jack um, well, since they both addressed story
elements, I think the cooltakeaway for me would be that
you should shoot on virtualproduction and we should make it
affordable and accessible, sothat it's not something that you
just have to do via aneducational sample or pay a lot
out of pocket because it's apretty awesome tool.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Great technology.
Yeah, good answer.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
Thank you so much for joining us today for the CFA
Podcast, for this short littleepisode.
Of course, we are so excited towatch it today.
Thanks, everybody.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
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