Robert Mallin

Welcome & please allow me to introduce myself — I am a visual story-teller, a designer, an innovator, and a leader. I am intrigued by illusions and technology. I enjoy puzzles and strategy. I was once told my greatest attribute is grit. I work as a creative technologist, a Touchdesigner developer, media server programmer, and virtual production specialist. In short — I generate creative & interactive solutions for the entertainment industry. My name is Robert Mallin and I hope you’ll enjoy browsing some of my proudest collaborations below.

Master Gallery

Mank

The Academy Award for best Cinematography was granted to Erik Messerschmidt for his brilliant cinematography on Mank. I had the distinct privelege of assisting Erik and David Fincher to camera solve & realize all of the virtual production shots for Mank.

© Netflix 2020

MUSE : Simulation Theory Tour

The Parnelli Award for Lighting Designer of the Year was awarded to Sooner Routhier for her work on the Simulation Theory World Tour. I worked directly with her, the Creative Director Jesse Lee Stout, and the head designers of every major department (Cristina Acevedo, J.T. Rooney, Liam Tucker) in my unique role of Wearable LED Integrator.

© Muse 2019

NASA : Artemis Ascending

Recognized for its pioneering efforts with an Innovation Award Nomination by the Producers Guild of America — I had the absolute honor of working at the Kennedy Space Center while broadcasting the launch of Artemis 1 live in 8K 360 VR. From my position in the broadcast truck — slightly over 3 miles from the launch — I operated my own custom built VR compositing & animation system live during the launch! The projects unique requirement was to maintain traditional live broadcast functions (picture-in-picture, banners, overlays, text, etc.) but to composite those features in 3D for Virtual Reality — in 8k & in real-time — and to be as minimally invasive as possible while integrating into broadcast workflows. This was made possible through a network of custom built Touchdesigner systems, Flightline Film’s 8K broadcast truck “MCC1” and streamed via encoders from MeetMo.io.

© Meta Platforms & Felix and Paul Studios 2022

Academy of Country Music Awards

From the brand new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the first ever live streaming award show had no commercial breaks! Using Disguise I programmed, operated, and triggered playback of all video media live during the show. This included a variety of triggers and cue types, including the use of timecode as well as remote triggers to the in-house media system controlling the stadiums permanent screens.

© Amazon Prime 2022

Devotion

Using Touchdesigner I designed, built, and operated a custom playback system for in-camera VFX. The system combined real-time data from a mechanical motion base to manipulate the visuals, among other features.

© Sony Pictures 2022

Reminiscence

In a Hollywood consumed by virtual production, I had the unique challenge of creating a real-world hologram live on-set — but from previously & traditionally shot footage (as opposed to the soup-du-jour method of real-time CGI from a game engine.) In order to realize this project it required a combination of theatrical techniques which included : Projection Mapping, Projection Blending, Peppers Ghost Illusion & Forced Perspective (via camera-tracking.) In addition the project required the ability to use color grading from DaVinci Resolve. All these elements were combined into a custom playback system using Touchdesigner.