On ER, a helicopter struggles to land on a rooftop during a violent storm. In Helen of Troy, thousands of Greek ships attack the city of Troy, and the oversized wooden horse is wheeled through the gates of the city. The camera flies into the ancient city of Rome in Spartacus, or over the Montecito Hotel in Las Vegas. These are just some of the “virtual backlots” that Stargate Films has created over the last six or seven years. The facility has been gradually increasing its ability to create photoreal locations — and place actors within them. “The key has been not to overextend our capabilities,” says founder/CEO Sam Nicholson. “We’ve been very selective about the people and productions we work with and very careful about not dealing in quantity.”