Summary
The Mill has teamed up with Habana Creative to create the first ever live-action drama film that the Tate has used to promote an exhibition - appropriate for a John Martin retrospective, since his grand, large scale canvases held a similar 'event' status in his time as cinema does today.
The film speaks to the wonders of losing yourself in the details
of a painting. The character fantasises a wider world, waking
on the day of the apocalypse to an eerie underground network of
passages, leading to a climactic reveal of the painting come to
life.
With a fairly open brief we were able to explore the boundaries of
flame to create a dramatic end sequence. Adam Watson, Lead 2D
Artist explained that "these are the kind of projects I love - a
set of loose borders to explore in every direction, and personal
passion for the artist's work. It took me a while to figure out
which approach to take to bring a 2 dimensional painting to
life.
In the original meetings we talked about using a super Hi Res drum
scan of the painting, splitting it in to layers and then manipulate
objects and geology in the painting to give some sense of life.
After starting the project, it became evident that this would not
be the most successful route and instead I would have to rebuild
the painting in a real life photographic world. I used a mixture of
digital stills I took in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco, 3D elements
animated in Flame, and filmed Special FX elements to bring the
scene to life.
Technically, it was a fantastic opportunity to explore some of
Flame's lesser used tools, such as 3D animation, lighting and
shadow casting, and particle systems. Although very limited, with
time you can get some great results, and have them live in your
composite which is amazing for visualisation and work flow."
Director, Simon Burrill comments "We knew it must be brief,
powerful, and evoke the feeling of the painting. Very little
else was pre-determined, allowing Adam and I to work together in as
organic a way as possible within time restraints. Starting
with nothing but performance plates and a reference of the canvas,
Adam did an incredible job in evoking the world of the
painting.
We visualised the world first, choosing key points of interest -
people caught in the rocks, giant boulders and toppling city,
dramatic clouds - to use as master shots. Adam pored over
every element for days - colour, geology, skies, to match the
painting. We found the edit very late in the process, because
until you're standing in that world, you can't tell the story
properly. Adam has a true artist's approach to his work. Of course
he has great technical skills, but our relationship is very much
one of creative collaboration, dialogue, ideas and
experimentation."
John Martin: Apocalypse will be exhibiting at Tate Britain from
the 21 September 2011 - 15 January 2012.
The Mill has teamed up with
Habana Creative to create the first ever
live-action drama film that the Tate has used to promote an
exhibition - appropriate for a John Martin retrospective,
since his grand, large scale canvases held a similar 'event' status
in his time as cinema does today.
The film speaks to the wonders of losing
yourself in the details of a painting. The character
fantasises a wider world, waking on the day of the apocalypse to an
eerie underground network of passages, leading to a climactic
reveal of the painting come to life.
With a fairly open brief we were able to
explore the boundaries of flame to create a dramatic end sequence.
Adam Watson, Lead 2D Artist explained that "these are the kind of
projects I love - a set of loose borders to explore in every
direction, and personal passion for the artist's work. It took me a
while to figure out which approach to take to bring a 2 dimensional
painting to life.
In the original meetings we talked about
using a super Hi Res drum scan of the painting, splitting it in to
layers and then manipulate objects and geology in the painting to
give some sense of life. After starting the project, it became
evident that this would not be the most successful route and
instead I would have to rebuild the painting in a real life
photographic world. I used a mixture of digital stills I took in
the Atlas Mountains, Morocco, 3D elements animated in Flame, and
filmed Special FX elements to bring the scene to life.
Technically, it was a fantastic
opportunity to explore some of Flame's lesser used tools, such as
3D animation, lighting and shadow casting, and particle systems.
Although very limited, with time you can get some great results,
and have them live in your composite which is amazing for
visualisation and work flow."
Director, Simon
Burrill comments "We knew it must be brief,
powerful, and evoke the feeling of the painting. Very little
else was pre-determined, allowing Adam and I to work together in as
organic a way as possible within time restraints. Starting
with nothing but performance plates and a reference of the canvas,
Adam did an incredible job in evoking the world of the
painting.
We visualised the world first, choosing
key points of interest - people caught in the rocks, giant boulders
and toppling city, dramatic clouds - to use as master shots.
Adam pored over every element for days - colour, geology, skies, to
match the painting. We found the edit very late in the
process, because until you're standing in that world, you can't
tell the story properly. Adam has a true artist's approach to his
work. Of course he has great technical skills, but our relationship
is very much one of creative collaboration, dialogue, ideas and
experimentation."
John Martin: Apocalypse will be
exhibiting at Tate Britain from the 21 September
2011 - 15 January 2012.
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