RADlite chosen for Starfinder

Projected Image Digital have showcased a RADlite visual manipulation system with television lighting director Will Charles, who utilised it in a new and innovative way on the Carlton TV series 'Starfinder'.
The show, shot at Black Island Studios in north London for transmission as a series this Autumn, is produced by Justin Scroggie and features a spectacular set designed by Richard Drew.
Starfinder is a children’s games programme, set on a space station, with elements from both Crystal Maze and Big Brother. Each episode sees four ‘astronauts’, aged 12 – 14, who won their places via the internet, engage in a series of games, and battle for popularity with the viewers who vote them on or off the space station.
The simulator part of the programme – where the contestants whiz through space, playing games, in their special vehicles - is recorded in a ‘green screen’ environment, with ‘virtual’ backgrounds and foregrounds (front and rear views of the inside/outside of the simulator) dropped in later for final transmission.
While piloting the simulator, the astronauts view outside space through a monitor screen, and also play the games on the screen. To make this shot as realistic as possible, Charles wanted to have a screen reflection and a feeling of movement running across their faces – which is where the RADlite came in.
He went the RADlite route (as opposed to conventional video) because he wanted this element to be under the control of a lighting desk, and to be able to use it in similar fashion to a key light-source. “It’s been absolutely invaluable,” he said.
Having heard about the system, Charles saw a RADlite demonstration from Projected Image’s David March at their HQ in Three Mills Island. It was exactly what they needed, so he sourced the PC-based system for the two-week duration of the programme shoot from Projected Image Digital.
They fixed a Sanyo video projector to the simulator that beamed the RADlite images onto exactly the right place on the contestant’s face. The source material was a series of special Starfinder computer video games. Depending on how each astronaut ‘flew’ the game, all their movements were recorded, and then recreated and replayed around the simulator – complete with RADlite impressions on the face, and the backgrounds dropped in on screen - for the finished programme.
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