Credit: compositing supervisor: Boundary Visual Effects

We completed more than 150 VFX compositing shots for the film. The work was split between the live-action sequences and the CG-toy sequences.

In the live-action work, we removed modern elements from sets, including security cameras, satellite dishes, and electrical wires. We also created winterisation and added snow to dressed sets.

For the CG work, the toys come to life. This involved preparing live-action plates for the CG toys through cleanup, compositing the multi-pass CG renders, fixing 3D-render issues and eye details, and integrating CG with the live-action footage.

I am really impressed by the quality of the SDXL inpainting model. This result used only an alpha mask and the prompt: “a bridge in the foreground, buildings and trees in the background.”

No ControlNets, pure inpainting.

I am very proud to have worked on this event with DONE+DUSTED and Red Knuckles.

The show combined a live event with pre-recorded sections. We completed visual-effects work to enhance shots and remove unwanted elements. COVID was still a major concern, so strict protocols were in place on the live site: testing every two days and masking for everyone.

For two weeks, we travelled each day to the remote and beautiful Hatta site to work on the show. Congratulations to everyone on the VFX team, you rocked. The show looked beautiful.