The Mill’s VFX team, led by Tom Bardwell added a host of digital effects from digital paintings to a CG photo-real space capsule. Bardwell tells us more, “The team was challenged in the opening Space Capsule shots with creating so something dynamic and fast, yet detailed and easy for the viewer to read instantly. Our VFX artists Incheol Jeong and Jimmy Gass crafted layers of flame, sparks and smoke within Houdini in order to obtain the right look, whilst trying not to obscure the capsule too much. We then combined live action elements with FX simulations of smoke, earth and grass within 2D to create the capsule’s crash to earth.

“The close up shot of the elephant painting required a detailed CG trunk with sculpted wrinkles and hair. The painting required several rounds to achieve the painterly look. We started with a digital matte painter, who painted over a frame from the wedding scene. We then ran this through a neural network app to obtain the look and feel of oil paint. Finally, we physically printed and painted over the image with white paint, then scanned and mixed back the texture, which added a great deal of depth and realism.”