TOP OF THE WORLD

TREVOR HOGG LEARNS HOW PRODUCTION DESIGNER CHRISTIAN HUBAND AND FRAMESTORE WERE ABLE TO MAKE VISUAL EFFECTS THAT SOAR TO GREAT HEIGHTS IN THE AERONAUTS…

- TREVOR HOGG

Inspired by meteorologist and astronomer James Glaisher and aeronaut Henry Coxwell breaking the world flight altitude record in 1862 by soaring to 36,000 feet in a coal gas filled balloon, screenwriter Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials) collaborated with filmmaker Tom Harper (Wild Rose) and Amazon Studios to make The Aeronauts, starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. With over 80 per cent of the action taking place above England under various weather conditions, visual effects had a pivotal role to play in making the biographical adventure film a cinematic reality. Overseeing the CG contributions of Framestore, Rodeo FX and Alchemy 24 was production visual effects supervisor Louis Morin (Arrival), while the physical builds were the responsibility of co-production designers Christian Huband (Justice League) and David Hindle (Bohemian Rhapsody).

“The one image that sticks in my mind when it comes to the sky was a print that was used in the book about the balloon journey that was done by Glaisher, and it was a stylised print that had The Mammoth above the clouds along with shooting stars,” recalls Huband. “This was a provocative, beautiful thing, slightly fanciful because I don’t think at 37,000 feet you can generally see the stars unless it’s at the end of the day or night. The decision to show the stars was something that has a certain theatricality which feeds into the story and performances. We did a sky chart, which was a graphic representation of what altitude they’re at and the time from the butterfly scene to the snow and ice scene. In the end, you send a helicopter up, which they did over South Africa, Louisiana and in different parts of the world, to film plates and you have to work with what you get.”