HBO Max's series One Perfect Shot collaborates with CBS-VFX
STUDIO CITY, Calif. (March 24, 2022) – When Oscar®-nominated, Emmy® award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay teams with some of cinema’s most noted directors in the new HBO Max original docuseries ONE PERFECT SHOT, movie lovers will see dazzling, unprecedented views inside memorable shots from film history.
The series, which debuts today on HBO Max, provides a never-before-possible perspective on filmmaking, allowing directors to step into their favorite shots and take viewers on amazing 360º views of their visions. DuVernay and her production company, ARRAY Filmworks, selected CBS VFX to produce these visually breathtaking moments.
Making the incredible images in ONE PERFECT SHOT required CBS VFX to use more than 25 years of visual effects innovation. Much of the work integrates the visual effects company’s proprietary “Parallax” virtual production system, which brings three-dimensional technology and an intricate level of detail to virtual locations. Combining Parallax with new tools in the Unreal Engine from Epic Games – including real-time rendering and ray tracing – led to remarkable production flexibility.
“Parallax, Unreal and Stype camera tracking, along with additional technology our team has created, brought Ava DuVernay’s incredible vision to the screen,” explains CBS VFX Executive Creative Director Craig Weiss.
“To deconstruct two-dimensional images that every movie lover knows intimately, we created digital, volumetric virtual sets in which filmmakers could wander freely to explain their creative decisions,” Weiss said. “Rendering the work in real time allowed guest directors the opportunity to see the results while they were on the set. For CBS VFX, this has been a creative challenge unlike any other.”
The digital production techniques from CBS VFX incorporated into ONE PERFECT SHOT represent an evolution of the work the visual-effects studio has done to replicate real-world locations in virtual sets and improve virtual production – which has been particularly important during the challenges of the pandemic.
Created for television by DuVernay and inspired by a popular Twitter account of the same name, each episode of ONE PERFECT SHOT arms one acclaimed director with an arsenal of visual tools to pull back the curtain on their most iconic shots. Filmmakers share their obstacles, challenges, lessons and triumphs as they detail the road to their one perfect shot.
The series features prolific filmmakers Patty Jenkins, Aaron Sorkin, Kasi Lemmons, Jon M. Chu, Malcolm D. Lee and Michael Mann, as well as blockbuster films including Wonder Woman, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Harriet, Crazy Rich Asians, Girls Trip and Heat.
ONE PERFECT SHOT is produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Warner Horizon, ARRAY Filmworks and One Perfect Shot. The series is executive produced by Ava DuVernay, Paul Garnes, Bruce Robertson, Neil Miller and Sonia Slutsky.
CBS VFX has developed groundbreaking technology and created visual effects for multiple series across many networks, including Apple TV’s upcoming “Roar,” “The Offer” for Paramount +, “This Is Us” on NBC, Netflix’s “Dead to Me,” and “Big Shot” on Disney+. CBS VFX maintains a dedicated virtual production soundstage, and its team is available to television production professionals for live demonstrations of virtual production, digital set extension and real-time pre-viz technologies.
To learn more, visit www.CBS-VFX.com.