Cinefex: Into the Storm – Visual Effects
Cinesite were tasked with completing work on a variety of sequences throughout the show. “We worked on twisters, building destruction, environment enhancement and clean up,” said Simon Stanley-Clamp, Visual Effects Supervisor at Cinesite. “These sequences had been started by another facility.”
Among the sequences worked on by Cinesite was one in which the principle characters take shelter with a group of students in the school. “The lights go out,” explained Stanley-Clamp. “Paper, dust and debris blows along the corridors while the students cower, then – wham! The roof peels back and kids are sucked out of the building. This was a sequence of about ten shots, comprising many FX passes, roto and comp work.”
Reference material for the sequence included CCTV and security footage taken from inside sports halls, supermarkets and schools. “There was also the ubiquitous camera phone footage of destructive weather events,” Stanley-Clamp added. “We used this extensively, particularly for the scenes where we ripped the roof off the school, showing ceiling tiles gradually peeling back and so on. What struck me most about this real life material is the speed at which the devastation occurs: a sports hall can be demolished in frames. This actually doesn’t make for a good cinematic experience, so our shots give a longer glimpse at what being inside a building during a storm would be like.”
