At Starting Pixel Live 24, Aron Randhawa, a director with Canon, shared the unconventional journey of blending 1960s Super 8 film with modern virtual production (VP) techniques. The session, co-hosted with Rob Rewadi from Racket Studios, took the audience on a behind-the-scenes look at Jack Goes to Work, Randhawa’s Super 8 short film created for the “Straight 8” competition—a unique event that challenges filmmakers to shoot on one roll of Super 8 without any editing or post-production.
The Artistic Limits and Allure of Super 8
Randhawa’s project had the added challenge of using vintage Super 8 cameras that were notoriously unreliable and unstandardized. He explained that these 1960s cameras required him to abandon digital conveniences. Without live playback or accurate viewfinders, Randhawa and his crew had to manually calculate exposure and focus—guessing at the results until film development was complete. This hands-off approach became a huge risk when one camera malfunctioned mid-production, forcing them to reshoot the entire film.
Despite the challenges, Randhawa was eager to explore how combining Super 8 film with modern technology could create a unique, cinematic effect. “We knew it would be hard, but that’s what made it exciting,” he explained. Randhawa’s creative process involved working closely with Rewadi’s team at Racket Studios, a virtual production studio known for its expertise in environment creation and immersive tech.
Old-School Meets New: Syncing Super 8 and VP
The technical hurdles were many. Super 8 cameras lack the precision of today’s digital models, running at inconsistent frame rates with no genlock or sync options. To compensate, Randhawa’s team used a digital camera to record proxy footage, which helped synchronize the audio to the visuals. Yet even this workaround was imperfect due to Super 8’s fluctuating frame rates, requiring the team to manually adjust playback speed for a semblance of sync.
Moreover, traditional VP challenges like moiré and flicker, common with LED walls, became advantages. The analogue format minimized these digital artefacts, allowing them to shoot directly on the LED wall without the usual worries about depth-of-field and sensor sync. This unexpected compatibility between old film and new VP technology was a revelation, enabling Randhawa’s team to capture seamless visuals that enhanced the film’s surreal, dream-like aesthetic.
Building the Virtual World of Jack Goes to Work
The film follows Jack, a stressed office worker, who escapes his mundane surroundings through music, leading him into a series of shifting virtual landscapes. Each of these environments reflected a different musical genre, creating a dreamscape that Randhawa wanted to feel both immersive and minimal. For one scene, Racket Studios used Unreal Engine’s VDB support to create dense, colourful smoke effects, giving the impression of a fog-filled room without physical props.
The LED wall also allowed Randhawa to include dynamic lighting in real-time. Using DMX-controlled lighting synced to music cues, the team created a visceral transition between scenes, reinforcing Jack’s emotional journey through light and colour alone.
Lessons Learned and Future Visions
For Randhawa, the experiment opened new possibilities for integrating analogue aesthetics with digital filmmaking. “The flexibility of LED walls and VP brought the film to life in ways that traditional sets never could,” he said. Though he joked about their “no-budget” approach, Randhawa noted that VP’s ability to render dynamic environments with limited resources was game-changing.
Their success with Jack Goes to Work inspired Randhawa’s next project, a music video for Tara Lily’s Speak in the Dark. Here, the team continued to blend physical props with virtual backdrops, scaling up from the four-person crew on Jack to a modest production of 35. With two environments—a forest and a lake scene—they pushed VP’s creative potential even further, crafting surrealist landscapes that added depth to Lily’s haunting visuals.
Conclusion: Analog Charm Meets Digital Innovation
Randhawa’s work exemplifies the endless possibilities when combining retro film formats with state-of-the-art VP. By embracing the limitations of Super 8 and the versatility of virtual production, Randhawa and Rewadi created a truly original piece that expands the vocabulary of modern filmmaking. As more filmmakers look to blend analogue and digital, Jack Goes to Work stands as an inspiring model for merging the best of both worlds.
Aron can be found here: www.linkedin.com/in/aron-randhawa-39605a1b8
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