Seth MacFarlane’s technology division ran its real-time visualization suite on Disney’s live-action remake, feeding oceans, skies, a treasure cave and a 500-foot lava monster into the camera so the production could judge blocking, lighting and framing against the finished world during the shoot.
Fuzzy Door Tech has announced that its ViewScreen real-time visualization suite was used throughout production on Disney’s live-action Moana, putting the film’s oceans, skies and digital characters in camera live on set.
ViewScreen is a patented suite of production visualization tools from Fuzzy Door Tech, the technology arm of Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door. It combines CG characters and virtual set extensions with live action during filming and feeds the composite to the camera and to video village, where the director, DP and VFX supervisor see it together while shooting. You can find videos highlighting the company’s work on the film on their website.
Moana was shot on a soundstage wrapped in bluescreen. The climactic Te Kā battle — jungle, fire, lava and water, with a 500-foot lava monster at the center of it — would normally be assembled long after the shoot, but ViewScreen was used to previs the sequence so it could play back on set with Te Kā and her surroundings visible to the whole crew. The Tamatoa scene worked the same way: instead of a bare bluescreen, the crew could see the crab and his treasure cave and frame every shot against them.
“Moana is exactly the kind of production ViewScreen was built for – complex environments and giant characters interacting with live actors in a world that doesn’t exist,” said Faith Sedlin, president of Fuzzy Door Tech. “Seeing composited scenes come to life on set, in real time, is what ViewScreen makes possible.”
Read about how the technology was used on Season 2 of Ted:
Fuzzy Door Tech Talks Virtual Production ‘D&D’ on ‘Ted’ Season 2
Fuzzy Door Tech is the technology division of Seth MacFarlane‘s Fuzzy Door, and Sedlin has run it as president since 2023. The company launched ViewScreen in December 2023 and has put it to work largely on MacFarlane’s own productions, including both seasons of Ted.
Moana opened last month, with Catherine Laga’aia in the title role and Dwayne Johnson as Maui.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
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