In September 2024, Carlos Sales, a talented virtual production manager and good friend of mine approached me with a challenge. He wanted to make a proof of concept showcase for his work as a virtual production designer, but needed a creative head as the backbone. And even better, he wanted to do it in 5 weeks. So we got to work. This page is dedicated to our process to create a quality proof of concept short film with a small timeline and even smaller budget.
In development and pre-production, I have been heavily inspired by the film “The Cranes Are Flying”. Set in Soviet wartimes, this couple heavily inspired to couple in “Eclipse of Us”, torn apart by war and the development of violence. The lighting also takes away from this theme, creating high contrast and using eye light as a strong motif.
See how virtual production designer and co-producer Carlos Sales designed the environments of “Eclipse of Us” and how he made this film possible to film in an entirely virtual environment.
“Virtual Production is the process of developing 3D Environment in Unreal engine for use in film productions. As someone striving to become a specialist on the topic, I wanted to share my workflow breakdown of my process when developing this environments.” - Sales
Eclipse of Us showed me the power of XR production to expand what’s possible in independent filmmaking. By creating entire environments virtually, we were able to explore locations and atmospheres that would normally be out of reach. XR didn’t just make production more accessible—it became a storytelling tool, shaping light, space, and mood in ways that deepened the emotional core of the film.