Jamestown (2016)

Description

 

 

 

A drama about English settlers in America in 1617, Carnival produced this 8 part series for Sky Atlantic. BlueBolt were the sole vendor for VFX and I had the pleasure of supervising the show.

Shooting began in spring of 2016 off the coast of southern Spain. The Nao Victoria, a replica of a 16th century Carrack, served as the sailing ship bringing the English wives to the newly established American colony.

From there the rest of the shoot took place over a sweltering summer in Hungary. An incredible set of the Jamestown settlement had been built, and the unspoilt Hungarian countryside doubled as Virginia.

Our first challenge was how to have our ocean-going sailing ship arrive at a lake in a land-locked country. A full CG replica of the Victoria was built to achieve this, as well as several other ships from the period that are seen at the wharf throughout the series.

We had more environment work to do as our characters explore the vast Virginia landscape – adding mountains and rivers and removing modern features. A CG rebuild of the town was also required for several aerial shots.

Additional work included augmenting wounds and burn prosthetics, turning motionless backwater lakes into raging rivers and enhancing a fire that engulfs the town (shooting in a set with thatched roofs meant a strict limited on what SFX could achieve safely).

Post production finished at the end of 2016, with BlueBolt having delivered ??? shots for the show. Carnival were so confident in the success of the show that a second series had been commissioned before the first had even gone to air!

You can click here or on any of the images to see BlueBolt’s VFX breakdown video for the show.

Tags: Compositing VFX Supervisor