Seventeenth Kind

Post production for the show featured a dizzying amount of complex practical and digital elements requiring seamless integration before the film's release on the festival circuit. Time-slice action shots, blue screen pyrotechnics, and force field lightning strikes were just a few of the challenges that were faced.

One of the most ambitious shots featured a mesmerizing blend of live action pyrotechnics, 3d environments, and blue screen elements. At the film's climax, an entire building is destroyed, leaving an unsuspecting passerby running for his life!

There were several aspects of the shot that made the task of compositing it all together very challenging. Shifting from frozen time to real time, digitally rendering a building that would ultimately be destroyed, and generating mattes for an epic practical explosion were just some of the key components.

The show was pushing boundaries in all directions, including the ambitious undertaking of not just one, but three time-slice shots. Although this technology is usually the reserve of multimillion dollar action movies and high profile television commercials, director Andy Collier was able to successfully achieve these shots by putting together a specialized team of camera pros and technicians to capture the actors on 34 separate Canon 5d's to make them appear frozen in time.

Coco Visual was approached with the task of interpolating virtual frames so the footage could be slowed down over 400%. The result was a smooth, gliding camera movement around the actors who are seemingly frozen in time.

Watch more about how the time-slice camera rig came together below: