Disney+ has recently kicked off production on their new series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The much beloved young-adult novels are being adapted into a big budget streaming show on the Disney-owned platform. What's more is that Rick Riordan, creator and author of the Percy Jackson series of books is taking a very hands-on role in the show's development as an executive producer.
Special effects have certainly come a long way since the early days of television and cinema. Nowadays, big budget film productions are well-known for utilizing greenscreens to create digital environments and sets for the actors to play their parts in. However, this often leaves performers without a ton of context as to where their characters are supposed to be or whom their interacting with.
Enter The Volume. This technology, designed by famous visual FX house, Industrial Light & Magic, uses what are essentially gigantic TV walls that display virtual sets so that a given actor can see where they're supposed to be. Special effects can also be added in real time, making the Volume an extremely powerful tool for filmmakers. It's been previously used on content like The Mandalorian and Thor: Love and Thunder as well.
Percy Jackson To Utilize The Volume
According to The Hollywood Reporter and as seen in a new set photo, Disney+'s forthcoming streaming series Percy Jackson and the Olympians will employ the StageCraft digital set creation technology known as The Volume, which, as mentioned above, has famously been used by the hit Star Wars television show The Mandalorian.
The series' principal photography will use ILM's fifth permanent Volume installation. Nissa Diederich, executive vice president of production for 20th Television, also stated the following:
"The stage we have built will be home to Percy and potentially dozens more of our most ambitious series."
StageCraft's The Volume Is Catching On
Use of the Volume technology is rapidly becoming more and more widespread in the industry. Several of Disney's films and series have already used it to good effect. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the aforementioned The Mandalorian have already put this new tool to use.
Of course, the Volume isn't perfect, and some audiences have complained that its use causes shows to feel "cramped" and "without room to breathe fully." But as the hardware and software continue to be refined, the process should become more natural and seamless to use.
As for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, whose cast was announced not long ago, the show will drop on Disney+ sometime in 2023.
