Could game engine technology help change the world? Students at Toronto’s Humber College sure think so. From climate change to burnout in the healthcare industry, they aimed to draw attention to society’s most important issues with their virtual production short film program, Made In-Engine.A collaboration between the college’s Film & Multi-Platform Storytelling and Game Programming departments in the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts, the project aimed to show how more immersive storytelling technologies could make film a more powerful medium, transcending budgets to shed light on crucial topics.
The rules were simple: use Unreal Engine and Unreal Engine Marketplace assets to make a film focused on a powerful story or theme that’s relevant to the world around us. From development, writing, implementation in Unreal Engine, and finalizing in Adobe Premiere or After Effects, the creative process took a full 14-week semester.
“Whenever you can put different creative groups together, you get a bit of magic; not only in the projects, but in how fast the students take on new information,” said Dr. Umer Noor, Professor Game Programming Program. “It was so clear our game students didn’t want to let the filmmakers down, so they threw everything that could into elevating the stories. You can see that on-screen, and in how they solved problems to get there. Everyone didn’t just walk away with a great portfolio piece, but a method for being successful out in the wider world.”
Read on to see what can be achieved when you’re armed with Unreal Engine, a multidisciplinary team, and a compelling story.
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Source: Unreal Engine Blog