Los Angeles Ashworth, Kansas

Fullfield

How a Fullfield recording is made

Nine steps, from the first conversation with a performer to the galleries under Kansas. Three of them are about consent.

  1. 01

    Casting

    Every performer is told before they audition which tracks will be recorded, where the title will be shown and whether it will have an adaptive edition.

  2. 02

    Consent session

    A recorded conversation at the performers’ building in Sun Valley with a producer and, if the performer wants one, a representative of their choosing, paid for by us. Each track is agreed separately.

  3. 03

    Fitting

    A capture technician fits the FH-3 headpiece and the Field Suit and calibrates them to the performer: eye height, the distance between the pupils, the shape of the ear.

  4. 04

    Capture

    On a closed set or a cleared private location. Every crew member in shot has signed a release. A performer can stop a take at any point by raising a closed fist, and the technician cuts the recording before anyone asks why.

  5. 05

    Ambient

    Where a scene needs a street, a crowd or weather, Fullfield Ambient creates it around the performer. Every face it creates is checked against the register of released participants.

  6. 06

    Edit

    An editor cuts the six tracks together. Picture and sound can be cut; motion, touch, breath and heart can be trimmed but are never moved out of step with the picture.

  7. 07

    Review

    The performer watches the final cut in a review carrel at headquarters, alone or with their representative, before anyone outside the production. They may ask for changes or withdraw.

  8. 08

    Release

    The title is released in its original cut and, where it has one, an adaptive edition.

  9. 09

    Library

    Within thirty days the masters, the consent session and the releases go to Ashworth, where they are kept for as long as the company exists.

A minute of a Fullfield recording on its six tracks Six lanes on a timeline from 00:41:00 to 00:42:00: picture frames, a stereo waveform, three motion traces, cells of touch pressure, a breathing curve and a heartbeat, with the playhead at 00:41:37. 00:41:0000:41:1000:41:2000:41:3000:41:4000:41:5000:42:00 1 SIGHT2 SOUND3 MOTION4 TOUCH5 BREATH6 HEART 00:41:37
A minute of a recording on the editor’s timeline. Picture and sound can be cut; the body tracks follow the picture.

The headpiece

Plan view of the FH-3 headpiece Seen from above, a band circles the head. Two camera pods sit at the front, 64 millimeters apart at eye level. Ear capsules sit at each side, a motion unit at the crown and a battery at the back. The headpiece weighs 386 grams. 64 mm CAMERAS · 2 × 8K · 120 FPS EAR CAPSULE · BINAURAL MOTION UNIT · 1 kHz BATTERY · 3 h 40 min FH-3 · 386 g · FRONT AT TOP
FH-3 headpiece
PartSpecification
Weight386 g with battery
CamerasTwo, 64 mm apart, adjustable 56 to 72 mm
Picture2 × 7680 × 4320 at 120 fps
Ear capsulesTwo, at the entrance of each ear canal
Motion unitNine axes, 1,000 samples a second
Battery3 h 40 min; hot-swappable at the back
In serviceSince 2023; 214 units