Lightfields
Rushes Film&TV; are delighted to take on the VFX for Lightfields.
Coming to ITV this spring, Lightfields is a compelling five-part supernatural drama set on a remote Suffolk farm. The story follows three families who each live in Lightfields farmhouse at different time periods (1944, 1975 and 2012) and who are linked by a spine chilling presence: the ghost of a teenage girl who died in mysterious and tragic circumstances.
The story culminates in 2012, when an elderly visitor to the farmhouse finally reveals the truth behind that fateful night in 1944, and ultimately there is the chance for resolution for all of the characters in Lightfields, the living as well as the dead.
Having worked with director Damon Thomas and ITV Studios on several previous projects Rushes Film&TV; were delighted to take on the VFX for Lightfields. The major challenge was that the location did not have a suitably situated barn for the most crucial part of the storyline and so we were tasked with both creating a fully CG barn and then destroying it in an enormous blaze.
The Rushes team were closely involved from the pre-production phase; recceing locations and creating a pre-visualisation of all the key scenes featuring the barn to determine camera angles, positions and lenses. This proved invaluable on the shoot as the team were able to show the sequences in context to the cast and crew, reducing set up times on the compressed schedule and aiding clarity of performance.
As the barn blaze sequence was so specific a decision was made to set aside an SFX/VFX shoot day for the elements required after the main unit shoot. Although some stock fire elements were available they did not fulfil the precise criteria needed for complete plausibility. In conjunction with Mark Holt’s SFX team a plan of required elements was made and on the day a small team assembled to shoot the fire elements including a major wide shot burning over 40 pallets and half a ton of straw.
“Once we got back to the facility we went through all the footage and matched elements in preparation for compositing onto our CG barn or over the live action barn interior. In the end it was a pretty seamless process and what we shot slotted in perfectly to give a really fabulous and totally believable sequence” says VFX Supervisor, Jonathan Privett.
The story culminates in 2012, when an elderly visitor to the farmhouse finally reveals the truth behind that fateful night in 1944, and ultimately there is the chance for resolution for all of the characters in Lightfields, the living as well as the dead.
Having worked with director Damon Thomas and ITV Studios on several previous projects Rushes Film&TV; were delighted to take on the VFX for Lightfields. The major challenge was that the location did not have a suitably situated barn for the most crucial part of the storyline and so we were tasked with both creating a fully CG barn and then destroying it in an enormous blaze.
The Rushes team were closely involved from the pre-production phase; recceing locations and creating a pre-visualisation of all the key scenes featuring the barn to determine camera angles, positions and lenses. This proved invaluable on the shoot as the team were able to show the sequences in context to the cast and crew, reducing set up times on the compressed schedule and aiding clarity of performance.
As the barn blaze sequence was so specific a decision was made to set aside an SFX/VFX shoot day for the elements required after the main unit shoot. Although some stock fire elements were available they did not fulfil the precise criteria needed for complete plausibility. In conjunction with Mark Holt’s SFX team a plan of required elements was made and on the day a small team assembled to shoot the fire elements including a major wide shot burning over 40 pallets and half a ton of straw.
“Once we got back to the facility we went through all the footage and matched elements in preparation for compositing onto our CG barn or over the live action barn interior. In the end it was a pretty seamless process and what we shot slotted in perfectly to give a really fabulous and totally believable sequence” says VFX Supervisor, Jonathan Privett.
Production Title: Lightfields
Production Company: ITV Studios
Director: Damon Thomas
Producer: Cherry Gould
Executive Producer: Kate Lewis
Editor: Crispin Green
Post Production: Rushes
Producer: Louise Hussey
VFX Supervisors: Jonathan Privett, Hayden Jones
VFX Line Producer: Paul Jones
VFX Co-ordinator: Christine Lemon
Compositors: Dan Alterman, Simone Coco, Noel Harmes , Eleanor Rogers , David Sjodin
CG: Chris Hutchison, Mark Pascoe, Craig Travis, Liam Hoflay, Michael Duong
