‘Mind-blowing’ VFX breakdown for dark comedy short, O.I.

‘Mind-blowing’ VFX breakdown for dark comedy short, O.I.

Directed by N’cee van Heerden, this gore-filled dark comedy doesn’t hold back on the head exploding visuals made by Image Engine.

CA, Vancouver, October 19th, 2020 – Vancouver studio, Image Engine released VFX breakdowns for the free-to-view short film, O.I.. With a range of blood splatter and environmental visual effects, the highlight breakdown depicts the multiple head explosions – key moments in the dark comedy’s narrative. For Halloween fans seeking a film with a light-hearted touch that doesn’t skip on the gory effects, O.I. is a perfect choice.

VFX Breakdowns

The mind-blowing scenes fuse both practical and CG effects, blending seamlessly into the scene. First, the scenes were filmed live with the real actors. Special effects (Objects inc) then exploded a gore-filled cantaloupe. Image Engine then blended the two images, sliced the tops of the heads, and added more blood in VFX.

VFX Supervisor, Keegan Douglas said: “Working with such an inventive and fun director on O.I. made it a truly memorable experience. N’cee loves to shoot practical elements as much as I do! So photographing melons, and blood explosions on set to composite in later was the highlight for a VFX supervisor!”

Other shots include added CG prison bars while the camera drifts ‘through’ them, transition FX between shots, and blood splatter on the camera in the police interview room.

About O.I

O.I.’s launch on Alter in October has seen huge success – the short reached over 42k views in less than three days! With a comedic quality that grips viewers to the narrative, O.I. takes the concept of being ‘mind-blown’ literally with a gory mix of practical and special effects. The story follows the protagonist Barry – played by Ben Cotton – after he wakes up one morning with an incredible new idea. The downside? He’s the only person that can handle it. In fact, telling the idea to anyone has devastating effects. Barry may have to face this burden alone – or so he thinks.

N’cee Van Heerden, O.I.’s Director, says, “The festival success O.I. achieved has been overwhelming and I’m thankful to the cast, production, and post team for their incredible work. Feedback from viewers has been positive so far and it’s been a pleasure to have the short streamed on Amazon Prime and numerous festivals around the world. The film will remain available to Prime viewers, but with October’s free release on ALTER, I want as many people to see the short as possible. For fans of O.I., I also just completed a horror film called Hunter’s Cabin I hope to release in the near future.”

About N’cee

Born and raised in South Africa, N’cee started his career in theatre, writing, directing, and managing productions. His focus was Berkoff inspired minimalist plays. This was where N’cee honed his skill and passion for directing and character-driven stories. In 2005 he transitioned into film. He started at the bottom working in various departments. He worked his way up to field producing and filming EPK content. He has worked on major productions including District 9, Avatar, Elysium, Chappie as well as many shorts, music videos and commercials. N’cee is busy writing a few feature-length scripts in the hopes to get one picked up soon as his debut feature.

About Image Engine

Based in Vancouver BC, Image Engine is a world-class visual effects studio led by a team of creative and passionate individuals who are committed to furthering the art of visual storytelling. The studio is well known for its Academy Award Nominated work on Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, and its creation of numerous incredible creatures, epic environments, and extraordinary digital effects for a broad range of feature films and television series including Game of Thrones and Star Wars The Mandalorian.

Source: O.I

For more information, please visit at O.I