Studio’s new division produced and animated Roland Lane’s new short film, which celebrates the world’s beauty while emphasizing its fragility, now showing in 8k on 360-degree floor-to-ceiling screens at Outernet London.
Cinesite recently launched Cinesite Immersive, a new division focusing on creative IP owners and brands, completed its first short film, Forsaken. The film, conceived, and directed by Roland Lane and produced by Cinesite with support from Greenpeace and Arts Council England, highlights the mass extinction of life on Earth, and is playing on Outernet London’s floor-to-ceiling wrap-around screens and.
Forsaken takes inspiration from Jellyfish, which regenerates and begins its life cycle over again. The film celebrates the natural world's beauty while emphasizing its fragility. The short, premiered January 11 at Outernet London, Europe's largest digital exhibition space. It is free to visit.
Under the direction of Roland, Andrew McNamara supervised the Cinesite crew with creative support from head of Assets and Visual Development, Madeleine Scott-Spencer. The team worked closely with Roland to develop the overall design and CG build of the different stages of the life cycle of the Jellyfish, crafting each stage of the narrative as well as blocking out general timings and movement to utilize the space effectively. The sequence used Cinesite’s standard VFX and animation workflow, rendering up to 8k per wall and resolving back to a 360-degree video at 50 frames per second, which was then remapped onto each LED video wall to give a full immersive experience.
The result is an impactful film presented in 8k, on 360-degree floor-to-ceiling screens set to a sound design by Gareth Fry and accompanied by motion graphics featuring official statistics from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, designed by Jonny Stopford, relating to species extinction caused by Climate Change.
“It’s true; a picture says a thousand words,” said Cinesite London’s GM Joce Capper,” It’s great to see Cinesite’s recently established immersive division bringing Forsaken to life for Roland with the support of Greenpeace. We’re really proud of the message behind the animation and the quality of the visuals our artists have delivered for Outernet London. With the immersive entertainment industry growing rapidly, Cinesite is expertly positioned to work with creative IP owners and brands to elevate the impact of their imagined worlds.”
“Working with Cinesite to bring this idea to life has been a collaboration, in the truest sense of the word, and being able to utilize the world-class talent, creativity and expertise they have within their team has been a professional highlight for myself,” commented Lane. “We worked closely together to apply the industry-leading CG and VFX capabilities they are renowned for to this most innovative of productions, crafting something ambitious for the immersive, one-of-a-kind Outernet venue as we sought to combine visual art with pioneering tech. I'm delighted that we have been able to do the message behind the work justice and use it to amplify the important work Greenpeace is doing in this area.”
Greenpeace U.K.'s interim head of oceans, Fiona Nicholls, added, “The oceans support all life on Earth, but less than 1% of the global oceans are properly protected. Destructive industries, like deep-sea mining or industrial fishing, are jeopardizing the future health of the oceans, which we all rely on. Art is a powerful and universal way to touch people. With Forsaken, we have a unique opportunity to reach a vast range of people to showcase the beauty of oceans and their fragility and inspire people to work with us to protect the oceans before it’s too late and more species are lost forever.”
“We’re privileged at Outernet London to provide a platform to showcase works like Forsaken, so they may reach our audience of over 1.5 million visitors a month with such an important message,” noted Outernet head of creative, Alexandra Payne. “Outernet’s mission is to create experiences worth sharing across the spectrum of media and entertainment, and thanks to our industry-leading partners on this project, Cinesite, Greenpeace, and artist Roland Lane, we’re confident of the impact this film will have in our space.”
Cinesite is in discussions with other creative IP owners and brands to elevate the impact of their imagined worlds. Projects will span virtual, physical, and mixed realities, location-based entertainment, theme park rides, and attractions.
Source: Cinesite
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
