ISS astronauts are set to welcome something curious aboard the station: a professional film crew, who will actually shoot a movie in space.
Yes, you read that right. The crew, who will be going to the ISS with Russian actor Yulia Peresild, will be the first one ever to shoot a space movie in actual outer space when they launch to the station on a Soyuz spacecraft, Digital Trends reported.
"Vyzov" To Be Filmed on the ISS
The movie, titled "Vyzov" ("Challenge"), is the product of a collaboration with Russian media companies and Roscosmos. Aside from Peresild, "Vyzov" director Kim Shipenko will also be joining on the trip to the ISS, alongside seasoned cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov.
Up on the ISS, the film crew will spend 12 days shooting for the movie in orbit, with Peresild and Shipenko scheduled to return to Earth on October 16, with current ISS crew member Oleg Novitskiy.Shkaplerov, the cosmonaut who's coming with them, will return a bit later.
But this won't actually be the first ever movie shot in space.That honor goes to the sci-fi short movie shot by entrepreneur and game developer Richard Garriott back in 2008, according to CNET. This is, however, the first high-profile filming to ever occur on the International Space Station.
Shipenko, the director, has helmed several of the most popular Russian films ever. Peresild herself is no mere pedestrian, either, having won or been nominated for numerous acting awards, as per her IMDB page.
If you remember last year, Hollywood star Tom Cruise was included in a joint NASA and SpaceX mission to the ISS. It was originally scheduled for this month, though there's still no major news on it yet.
Shooting A Film On The ISS: How Will It Even Work?
Until this mission, all movies about space have always been shot on Earth. Using a clever mix of practical effects and CGI, these films and TV shows have managed to make it at least believable.
Perhaps the producers of "Vyzov" did desire for authenticity, and no one can blame them.
The movie's story follows that of a female surgeon who must perform an operation on a gravely ill cosmonaut. As such, the ISS is obviously perfect as a location.
The most obvious challenge will be the weightlessness that the film crew will have to deal with. They can easily solve this with their equipment (i.e. camera, boom mics) by tying or bolting down their equipment on the floors of the ISS.
Aside from that, the actors and crew will also have to compensate for not being held down by gravity when it comes to planning out their scenes and camera angles, among others.
But that's where the complications lie.
According to Thrillist, even shooting a movie on Earth is already insanely difficult. But shooting in actual outer space presents a whole new level of difficulty, which is probably why the film crew itself is tiny.
Imagine the logistical nightmare of bringing an entire film set to the ISS. Either way, this is already an amazing achievement.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
