The Aeronauts Visual Effects Breakdowns

The Aeronauts Visual Effects Breakdowns

The Aeronauts is an upcoming biographical adventure film written and directed by Tom Harper, from a story co-written with Jack Thorne. Produced by Harper, Todd Lieberman, and David Hoberman, the film stars Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Phoebe Fox, Himesh Patel, Vincent Perez, and Anne Reid.

The Aeronauts is scheduled for its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, followed by a theatrical released in the United States on December 6, 2019 by Amazon Studios.

The Aeronauts VFX by Framestore

Framestore was proud to deliver stunning VFX environments for Tom Harper’s action-adventure The Aeronauts, adding world-class sheen to a film that took stars Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne from the streets of London to vertiginous heights.

Produced by Amazon Studios, The Aeronauts is a semi-biographical adventure that follows pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) and scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) as they find themselves in an epic fight for survival as they attempt to reach record altitudes.

With the weather – and the science thereof – playing a major role in the storyline, a key challenge was to produce stunning cloudscapes that were unprecedented in terms of volume, precision, and art direction. The work began with Framestore’s in-house art department providing concept art for atmospheric cloudbanks and striking city environments which conveyed director Tom Harper’s vision. When referring to the brief, VFX Supervisor Christian Kaestner explains, “It had to be realistic, but it also required a subtle hint of the fantastic. It had to tell the story of this dangerous endeavor with beautiful imagery and believable cinematography.”

The film’s establishing shot features a CG set and full crowd extension admiring the pre-take off spectacle. Once the balloon lifts off the ground, the couple looks down onto 1862 London for some 1000 frames – a lingering sequence that required high levels of historical accuracy and extensive research. “It was one of the most challenging shots we faced,” says CG Supervisor Britton Plewes. “If something didn’t look quite right, the audience would have had time to pick up on it. It’s a sequence that sets the tone for immersing the audience into the story.”

The Aeronauts VFX by Rodeo FX

Our team was delighted to collaborate once again with Overall VFX Supervisor Louis Morin and Overall VFX Producer Annie Godin on The Aeronauts, directed by Tom Harper.

For this aerial adventure, reuniting Academy Award-nominated duo Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, we were tagged on the descent and crash of the Mammoth, our heroes’ hot air balloon.

Our artists recreated the balloon as it deflates and engages into a vertiginous fall, before being turned into a makeshift parachute. One of our main challenges was to produce custom cloudscapes, and to scatter and light these CG clouds across the scenes. To deliver a photoreal English countryside, our matte painters removed roads and all signs of modern technology and time anachronisms. They then scaled down land parcels for time period accuracy. Finally, our environment team created very high-resolution trees that allowed for interaction with James and Amelia as they crash through them.

The Aeronauts Making Images

Director: Tom Harper
Release Date: 6 December 2019 (USA)

Production VFX Supervisor: Louis Morin

The VFX are made by:
Framestore (VFX Supervisor: Christian Kaestner)
Alchemy 24 (VFX Supervisor: Jean-François Ferland)
Rodeo FX (VFX Supervisor: Ara Khanikian)
The Third Floor

Related Links
The Aeronauts IMDB