In the world of indie filmmaking, where budgets are tight but ambition runs high, tools like Unreal Engine are becoming game-changers. After completing The BackSpace Trilogy—a series of short sci-fi films created entirely in Unreal Engine—we set our sights on a new challenge: STARPOST. This time, we wanted to raise the bar even further, blending live action with virtual environments to explore just how cinematic, immersive, and visually bold indie sci-fi can get without breaking the bank. Our journey is just one example of how independent creators are using real-time technology to punch way above their weight.
This kind of hybrid filmmaking—combining live action with virtual production—is something major studios are already doing. At first, we were definitely intimidated. But having gone through the ups and downs of making The BackSpace Trilogy entirely in Unreal Engine, we figured: why not push ourselves again?
Our first step was to explore Volume Stages and get a sense of the costs. We toured some truly impressive facilities, packed with cutting-edge tech and massive LED walls. But the reality quickly set in—those setups were way out of our price range. In some cases, it would’ve actually been cheaper to build the sets physically, which is every filmmaker’s dream… if you’ve got the budget. We didn’t.
So we turned to a tried-and-true solution: green screen. In a time when virtual production is synonymous with LED volumes and AI tools, green screen can feel like a throwback. But it gave us exactly what we needed. After building our 3D environments in Unreal Engine, we shot the live-action footage against green screen—and started bridging the gap between old-school techniques and next-gen filmmaking.
The story of STARPOST is set in the future, where humanity’s exploring the far edges of space. Most of the environments you see—massive planets, ancient temples carved into canyons, wild, swooping flights through strange geometric caves—we built all of that in Unreal. The real-time rendering made it possible for us to see changes instantly, which was huge. Being able to tweak things on the fly helped us stay creative without getting bogged down in slow, traditional workflows.
One of the coolest parts of the film was designing the villainous pilots who are chasing our heroes. We used Metahumans for that—basically, digital characters we could customize down to the smallest details. It gave us a ton of freedom to create these intense, intimidating characters that felt real. From their facial expressions to the texture of their skin and hair, it added so much personality and realism to the film.
Using Unreal and Metahumans wasn’t just about the visuals, though. It actually helped us tell a better story. These tools let us build a world and characters that would’ve been really tough (or just crazy expensive) to pull off otherwise. And we got to do it without losing sight of what matters most: the story.
STARPOST was our way of testing the limits—of seeing just how far today’s technology can take independent filmmakers. It’s a glimpse into the future of filmmaking, where tools like Unreal Engine are leveling the playing field and giving small teams the power to create worlds that once belonged only to big-budget studios. The possibilities are growing every day, and honestly, it’s never been a more exciting time to be a storyteller.
