Dune’s Greig Fraser Reveals How Unreal 4 Expedited Pre-Production

The award-winning cinematographer, Greig Fraser, revealed how they utilized Unreal Engine 4 while making Dune to plan out the incredible visuals that have become the two movies’ most distinctive features.

The Unreal 4 is the fourth iteration of the three-dimensional graphics engine designed by Epic Games, the studio behind the hit online games Fortnite and Fortnite Battle Royale.

Although the engines are predominantly used in game design, they can also be used in other industries, such as architecture, automotive, aviation, film, and TV.

It’s common to find the Unreal Engine used in both Hollywood and independent filmmaking. Fraser said that they made extensive use of the Unreal 4 engine in planning some of the scenes in the second Dune film, which came out last month and starred names like Rebecca Ferguson, Florence Pugh, Josh Brolin, and Zendaya.

In a video released on X, the cinematographer said that they used Unreal 4 to plan scene elements, like shadows, based on the sun’s position at any given time and actual camera movement.

The cinematographer said the engine’s capabilities allowed them to put 3D-rendered human actors on the actual location, see the environmental conditions in real time, and set up the shot. All of these were possible even in the pre-production stage.

Fraser described the use of the Unreal Engine as a “Godsend,” given the complexity of the second Dune film's cinematography. He added that the engine accelerated the pre-production process considerably, allowing the team to proceed to actual production.

Dune: Part Two was released to positive reception, exceeding $500 million in box office earnings worldwide. Addressing the possibility of a sequel, director Denis Villeneuve expressed his commitment to ensuring that if it is ever produced, Part Three will only be better than Part Two.

Villeneuve expressed his desire last year to produce the third film based on the “Dune Messiah” book. Many cast members, including Florence Pugh and Lea Seydoux, were also looking to star in the next movie should the studio greenlight it.