PRODUCTION OLD LONDON
ARTWORK Kieran Belshaw PHOTOGRAPHY Annabel Moeller
Broadley Studios gives us a behind- the- scenes look at the making of Old London, a dystopian short film with an ambitious technical scope O ld London , written and directed by Kieran Belshaw and produced by Kathryn O’Reilly, is an ambitious short film set in a post- apocalyptic London. Shot at Broadley Studios, it explores the subject of ever- changing society and our obsession with discarding ‘the old’ and replacing it with ‘the new’. The story is seen through the eyes of the protagonist ( The A-List ’s Ellie Duckles), a survivor crossing the battered landscape of London from the V&A to Trafalgar Square. It paints a stark – and depressingly feasible – portrait of a dystopian future for the UK.
The UE sets were created by Belshaw – a scenic artist on shows like Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon – and when he and O’Reilly approached Broadley seeking a green-screen partner to help bring their unique vision to life, the creative and technical ambition captured the attention of MD Richard Landy, who readily agreed to collaborate on this ambitious piece. This naturally meant using Broadley’s virtual production capabilities to create a realistic version of London as it crumbles to the ground from nuclear bombardment. “From the first time I met
the guys, I knew this would be a great fit for our VP set-up: the whole team is super-talented and Kieran’s sets are great,” comments Landy. When Belshaw, O’Reilly and DOP Yannick Hausler approached Broadley, they came with a wish list of technological ambitions, including full CG sets, cloth and particle simulations and destruction, with the idea to create most of it in real time. Landy knew that virtual production was the clear path forward, and everyone agreed. VP has its own unique set of challenges, especially in productions as technically demanding as Old London , but after conversations on how best to approach it, a unique system of technology was agreed upon. The studio is powered by Brainstorm Infinity Set at its core and utilises Mo-Sys’ StarTracker Max tracking system, Sony FX9s and FR7s and MRMC’s QRS-1 robotic rail system, with Xeon Quadro A6000 at the heart of their render engines. “The VP set-up at Broadley is a fantastically powerful tool for worldbuilding and, when we were given a chance to test it, I knew straight away it would be perfect to help me bring to life to the film and create a unique visual spectacle,” says Belshaw.
APOCALYPSE NOW London's Broadley Studios was well equipped to deal with technical demands of the production
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