TORONTO – A Canadian company bringing space exploration to the homes of millions of people around the world.
Montreal-based company Felix & Paul Studios, which specializes in entertainment experiences, has condemned the lives of astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) for two years. Next week is the first time ever that a 360-degree camera will be used to fully record the spacewalk at the ISS.
“We felt this was something we had to achieve, and everything we did in the studio was to ramp up to this point and bring audiences into space. It’s a long dream to do it, ”Felix Lajeunesse, co-founder of Felix & Paul Studios told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
The series is an immersive project called “Space Explorers: The ISS Experience” and features portable 360-degree cameras that follow the daily lives of astronauts. The show will follow astronauts on a number of different experiences, including a spacewalk, which is set to be filmed on March 5th.
The 360-degree camera will be attached to a robotic arm attached to the space station and will act as a mast to record NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut. The whole walk lasts six and a half hours.
The camera was unpacked during a mission by Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jaques and assembled in November 2020.
To create a camera to withstand the harsh environments of space, the company had to consider a number of considerations such as camera calibration, thermal management and space radiation.
“You have to simulate things differently because you are in a micro-gravity environment so the heat distribution in space will be different compared to the Earth,” Lajeunesse said.
The project will consist of a four-part series that has been in production for two years and has taken more than 200 hours of photography.
The sheer complexity of doing a project in space is what makes it so difficult.
Lajeunesse said to achieve this in the very unstable environment that is an empty space, the Montreal studio had to overcome a number of technical challenges while the film crew is on Earth and everything is happening. in space at a distance.
“Sometimes we lose a mark and for a while you are blind and all you can do is hope for the best. It will even take weeks to see the content you have burned, ”said Lajeunesse.
The company will remain in direct contact with the astronauts during filming. Astronauts get camera positioning and light guidance, while they are under NASA guidance. At times, Lajeunesse said that the astronauts build original ideas to contribute to the overall production of the film.
“The astronauts are the main characters in the story, but they are also a de facto film crew,” Lajeunesse said.
NASA reviews all images taken between Earth and space and can take between six and eight weeks to download. At times, representatives of the Earth send feedback to the astronauts.
“You need to rethink your craft and rethink the way you communicate. You have to start from zero to be fully active in an environment as a place, ”said Lajeunesse.
The company’s core mission is to create immersive story experiences through virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality technology. The company wants their audience to feel like they are members of the crew aboard the space station.
The content will be made available to subscribers through various partnerships with the company.
Viewers can also watch online using high-definition, 360-degree moving glasses and full-screen video.
“We’re also going to launch across all of Canada’s entire planetarium, and the content will be part of a major travel show that will be launched in July 2021,” Lajeunesse said.
The company’s film goals don’t come to an end after next week’s production. Lajeunesse hopes to go beyond the ISS and finally put a camera on the moon and finally Mars.
“The next time astronauts come to the moon, it’s not going to be something you watch on television, it’s going to be something you live in real time,” Lajeunesse said.
The project is expected to launch in full in August to December 2021.