Independence Day: Resurgence

Twenty years after the events of Independence Day the aliens have returned, stronger than ever.  In the past two decades the international community has recovered, creating the Earth Space Defense (ESD), a united global defense program.  Using the salvaged remains of alien weaponry and military forces assembled on the Moon, Earth prepares to defend itself from the latest, devastating threat to the human race.

During a climactic scene at Area 51 in Nevada, both forces face off in a massive battle in the air and on land.  Cinesite’s teams in London and Montréal, overseen by in-house VFX Supervisor Holger Voss, worked closely with production supervisors Doug Smith and Volker Engel to realize some of the most dramatic effects in this sequence.

Cinesite’s team created the 50km wide alien Queen ship in its entirety, from look development right through to delivering finished shots.  In powerful sequences where alien and allied ships engage in airborne battles inflicting devastating damage all around, everything from the ships to the weaponry and Area 51 environment were all completed by Cinesite.  Area 51 assets like buildings and architectural features were supplied to the team then replicated multiple times to create around 25,000 instances.  Both clean and progressively damaged versions of the environment were created.

This major sequence was an impressive collaboration between multiple facilities, with Cinesite contributing many of the most dramatic shots.

  • Release date: 24.06.2016
  • Studio: 20th Century FOX
  • Director: Roland Emmerich
  • Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson
  • Liam Hemsworth as Jake Morrison
  • Bill Pullman as Thomas J. Whitmore
Independence Day: Resurgence

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