For Cheston Mizel and L.E. Staiman, adding animation to their debut live-action feature film wasn’t planned, but their absurdist retro-future rom-com needed it, so after months of 14-hour days spent learning mocap, 3D software, and Unreal Engine, and with the help of virtual experience company Hi From The Future, their hybrid satire is now available.
What happens when you take two creatives with a deep appreciation for satire and throw them into a pandemic lockdown with nothing to do but watch society delve deeper into self-gratification, virtual relationships, and obsession over their social media apps?
You end up with a movie like Love Virtually, now available on Digital, to rent on Prime Video, or watch On Demand.
The feature film directing debut of Knifecorp actor and writer L.E. Staiman, who co-wrote the script with executive producer Cheston Mizel, Love Virtually follows four couples who go to ridiculous lengths to find true love in a virtual world, at a time when the Metaverse has become widely adopted. The film is a retro-future rom-com for the modern age, blending live-action and 3D animation as it explores and exposes the absurd reality of our world and where we are headed, while probing life’s deepest questions, such as, “How does a celebrity find someone who loves them for their true selves?,” “Is it cheating if it’s in VR?,” and “Is it cheating if it’s with an AI?”
It’s cringy, it’s funny, and it’s absurd. But so is Love Virtually’s source material: our everyday lives. Check out the trailer:
The film, produced by Cancelled Films and Set In Motion, stars an ensemble cast including Cheri Oteri (Saturday Night Live); Paul F. Tompkins (BoJack Horseman); Peter Gilroy (Zombeavers); Ryan O’Flanagan (American Vandal); Adam Ray (Young Rock); Nikki Howard (Beyond Paranormal); Tom Virtue (Even Stevens); Paige Mobley (Kidnapped to the Island); Vincent Washington (Mother's Keeper); Ksenia Valenti (Lower East Asides); Harper Frawley (Over/Under); L.E. Staiman; and Stephen Tobolowsky (Groundhog Day).
Partnering with virtual experience company Hi From The Future, which specializes in 3D animation as well as architectural visualization and game design, Mizel created the film’s animation himself, having never done it before. Of course, that wasn’t the original plan, nor was it Staiman’s original intention to include animation. But these ideas evolved as the film took shape, along with Mizel’s skills as an animator.
AWN chatted with Mizel about his experience spending over 14 hours a day for months in his basement teaching himself animation, how he went from putting out feelers on Facebook to finding himself in a mocap suit, and whether or not this is a feat he’d ever attempt again.
Victoria Davis: Where did this story come from? Tell me about the origins of Love Virtually.
Cheston Mizel: About a month into the COVID pandemic, we were brainstorming ideas for a movie that could be shot on a low budget under pandemic conditions. At the time, we had no idea how long it was going to last, so we started with the idea of writing a script with no more than two actors in any scene in a world where interactions were primarily remote. We started with this idea of two celebrities reverse-catfishing, and it all kind of spun out from there. One thing led to another, and we ended up with Love Virtually.
VD: Was it intimidating to tackle a story like this, not only because of its subject matter–identity exploits, virtual sex experiences, and affairs amidst an honest desire to find love–but also because the metaverse is absolutely massive and, essentially, limitless?
CM: Sure, it was a bit intimidating. Looking back on it now, given the fact I had zero domain knowledge or relevant experience, it was downright impossible. That being said, just because something is impossible doesn’t mean it's not worth doing.
VD: Did you know right away that you wanted to include 3D animation?
CM: It was a bit of an evolution. L.E. insisted that for an ensemble movie like this, there needs to be something that brings all the characters together. Given COVID restrictions, we considered a Zoom party, but that just wasn’t going to cut it from a production value or storytelling point of view. Once we decided on VR, we looked at using platforms such as VR Chat, but the more we got into it we realized that CGI was the only way forward.
VD: In an effort not to reveal too many spoilers, what can you share about the storyline where the 3D animation takes place in the film?
CM: The 3D animation primarily consists of characters entering the Metaverse for social interaction at various times during the film. The majority of the third act, including the climax of the film, takes place in “Club Kaboom,” the hottest and most exclusive nightclub in the Metaverse.
VD: Was there talk about including other forms of animation or media as well, such as 2D and photoreal? How did you decide on what to include and not include in this world?
CM: There actually is one scene where we used explainer video-style 2D animation, and we had several hundred VFX shots of various types. Our decision of what to include was really a function of storytelling and feasibility with the resources at our disposal.
VD: How did you decide what you wanted this film’s 3D animation to look like? What were the design goals?
CM: Although I think L.E. would really have wanted the animation to look like it was straight out of Pixar or another major animation house, that goal was beyond our reach given our budget and the technology available to us at the time. As a practical matter, we decided that we wanted to create a Metaverse that looked a few years better than the largely awful-looking VR platforms available at the time.
VD: What were the biggest challenges with the 3D animation production?
CM: The biggest challenge was definitely learning on the job. When we started, I literally posted on Facebook, looking for anyone who knew anything about VR. Eventually, I bought an Oculus and began playing around with it myself. The next thing I knew, I bought a computer with a GPU and started playing rough with animation software and Unreal Engine. Before I knew it, I was spending a ridiculous number of hours in my basement directing L.E. in a mocap suit and then hacking together the bits and pieces as best I could using software that was above my paygrade.
After that, I would say the biggest challenge was finding “Hi From The Future,” a talented animation team with a compatible workflow that took what we put together with bubblegum and Band-Aids and turned it into watchable scenes.
VD: And what were the biggest challenges in interweaving the animation into the live-action shots?
CM: Given the fact we shot the live-action before we did the animation, we at least knew what performances we needed to match. The biggest challenge was probably creating continuity between the real and virtual worlds to make the story flow and work as a cohesive whole.
VD: Was this the first time you both have done an animation/live-action hybrid project?
CM: This was the first time either of us ever did an animation project at all.
VD: Is this something you’d like to do more of in the future?
CM: Possibly. I think we would definitely do it differently if we were to do it again. The tools we used three and a half years ago were cutting-edge at the time, but already they seem somewhat obsolete. With AI advancing as it has, the opportunities for amateurs to utilize animation for storytelling are growing every day and are only getting better.
VD: What do you hope audiences take away from watching Love Virtually? What kind of mindset should they have going into this film?
CM: First and foremost, we want them to laugh out loud. That being said, it's satire, so we really do hold up a mirror to some rather ridiculous aspects of our culture and its encounter with technology. If we can get people to think more expansively about life, that would be even better. As for the mindset to take into the film, they should be prepared to not take themselves so seriously and possibly even consider screening it around 4:20 in the afternoon.
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
