Raptor Productions Film Camp!
Raptor Productions will be using tech and processes similar to those used in "Thor Love & Thunder".
Sign up for Raptor Productions Summer Movie Camps and learn how to hurl lightning.
Raptor Productions is the first high school virtual production studio in Texas.
We’re starting actual film making and media creation here at Cedars with Raptor Productions.
BIG PROBLEM!
Shooting around campus gets old QUICK! Now using many of the same tools that Disney has used with t"he Mandalorian", "Falcon & the Winter Soldier", and new films like "Thor Love & Thunder". Virtual Production utilizing composited actors on green screen stages has seemed like something reserved for multi-billion dollar studios. Well this is where we can take the new Raptor Productions Green Screen Sound Stage (our great room) and all of our equipment to create car chases, haunted houses, government installations, dank forgotten catacombs, the bridge of alien ships and so many more places that we could only wish for before.
At our summer film camps you’ll learn how to set your idea to work with 3D modeled assets, shoot your footage with live actors, create clean composites in After Effects, bring that new flat into Unreal Engine 4 to animate and immerse your footage in that scene. Finally you’ll export your footage to Adobe Premiere Pro and edit your sound and cuts to make an explosive final product. Truthfully we might even virtually blow a few things up. I said, virtually.
If you attend both camps you’ll be able to take on the advanced VFX track. This will expand your use of Adobe After Effects where we will work on Horror FX. Yes, we’ll probably make light sabers, but with October right around the corner we need to learn how to make eyes glow, jaws unhinge, clone people into a crowd and how to hit someone with a car and still keep them in one piece. One nice extra is this will be good working exposure to our certified courses in Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects. You'll also learn how to use Unreal Engine 4 that we use for visual FX with Raptor Productions as well as in our computer science and game development classes.
The camps are free to Cedars students this includes all incoming freshmen attending Cedars Next Gen HS for Fall 2022 to our graduati
ng Seniors of Spring 2022. If you know students outside of Cedars that would like to attend please contact Tyeron Hammontree at thammontree@cedars-academy.org or through the Raptor Productions discord.
Space is limited so please sign up soon through the register button.
"The Batman" used many of the same tools that we will use for filming Raptor Production projects.
In fact we're working on a trip to a local virtual production studio to see what its like to work with an LED volume which is becoming the norm for billion dollar movie studios to indie YouTubers. The great thing about all this tech is that we already have the key parts to use it ourselves! The same skills used for "The Batman" we'll use to make our TikToks, shorts and films.
An early test for Raptor Productions Virtual Production workflow. Test 3 will be shooting soon.
What’s going on at the camps!
Intro to Virtual Production and Raptor Productions
June 20th thru 23rd (10am to 3pm)
Bring costumes, props, and any snacks or lunch you'd like through the day. Pay attention to the discord to see prepared environments so you can decide what costumes and props you will want to bring to the production camp
Every day will include actor workshops and crew building activities. Everyone learns to be in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
Monday - How to light, stage and shoot on a green screen. Movie making game storming creating our first VP short!
Tuesday - Creating final mattes of your green screen shots in After Effects. Virtual Production in Unreal Engine 4. First ever Raptor Micro Film Shot Festival. Publish Film Shots to Raptor Productions Youtube channel. Finalize pre-production of VP short
Wednesday - Shoot our first VP short and begin post as quickly as possible. This will require an intro to Premiere Pro as well.
Thursday - Finalized and complete the VP short. Publish VP rough to the Raptor Productions Youtube channel as the studios first short. Game storm next projects and school productions for the upcoming year.
Intro to VP production and Advanced VFX
July 18th thru 21st (10am to 3pm)
Bring costumes, props, and any snacks or lunch you'd like through the day. Pay attention to the discord to see prepared environments so you can decide what costumes and props you will want to bring to the production camp
Every day will include actor workshops and crew building activities. Everyone learns to be in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
Monday - Advanced VFX will be mentoring new attendees as we capture our opening green screen shots. This time we will be doing something a bit 
different as we’re going to provide the VFX team with prepped explosions and we’ll be shooting a more advanced chase scene in our green screen shots. Intro to VP Production tasks from previous intro camp.
Tuesday - Advanced VFX will be setting up their virtual Sets in UE4 to simulate getting hit by a car and then finalizing the shot(s) in After Effects. We will also work on a horror short that I’ll have somewhat prepared ahead of time and we’ll work out logistics to shoot. VP Intro will be creating final mattes of your green screen shots in After Effects. Virtual Production in Unreal Engine 4. A Raptor Micro Film Shot Festival. Publish Film Shots to Raptor Productions Youtube channel. Finalize pre-production of VP short.
Wednesday - Advanced VFX will be working on tracking facial features to turn themselves into roaring hellish creatures. We’ll be using these frightening visages in our horror short. We’ll also be VP Intro will shoot our first VP short and begin post as quickly as possible. This will require an intro to Premiere Pro as well. Advanced FX may help with this production and may even be able to collaborate between the two tracks.
Thursday - Advanced VFX We’ll be filming the last bit we need for our horror short and edit everything together to publish to the Raptor Production channel. VP Intro will complete the VP short. We’ll publish the VP rough to the Raptor Productions Youtube channel short. We’ll round out the day with Game storming next projects and school productions for the upcoming year.
In the works...
Field trip to Co-Production studios in Austin to view a Virtual Production LED volume which is the next step up from our green screen. I’ll update through our discord. 
REQUEST A SPOT USING THE FORM BELOW!