From Green Screen to Gray Box: AI Is Stepping Onto the Hollywood Sound Stage
A movie set with blank, neutral walls can be filled in with AI-generated backgrounds and lighting.
On a Disney sound stage in Los Angeles, a woman stands in a gray box, a small, neutral-colored space with cross marks for positioning. She is next to blue carpet boxes, stand-ins for larger props that will be added digitally later. A camera follows her every move, and AI-generated or assisted backgrounds are used in place of traditional green screens.
These gray boxes offer more flexible shots and speed up post-production. Entertainment studio Promise Advanced Imagination showcased its filming product during the Disney Accelerator Demo Day, which uses AI to help fill in backgrounds and replace lighting and objects. This lowers production costs while ensuring high-quality results, as the AI-generated backgrounds match the size and scale of expensive productions.
Despite some concerns about job losses, Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro emphasizes that technology is not the goal and that human creativity remains at the center of filmmaking.
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