JAM VFX Crafts a Suspenseful Sky High Whodunnit for ITV's ‘Red Eye'

JAM brings its VFX expertise to 'Red Eye', season one, 'Bad Wolf'.

Q> What's a short synopsis of the story?

Layla> Red Eye is a six part thriller which follows a plane journey from UK to China and back to the UK after Doctor Nolan (Richard Armitage) is immediately extradited on his return home from a medical conference, escorted by the headstrong police officer, DI Hana Li (Jing Lusi).

A brilliant blend of a political drama and a conspiracy thriller, we watch the characters as they play out this suspenseful sky high whodunnit.

Q> Was there a previous season? If so, does this one differ?

Layla> First season. 

Q> Who did we work with on it?

Layla> The series has been created and written by Peter A Dowling, the production company are Bad Wolf and it’s commissioned by ITV. 

Kieron Hawkes (The Burning Girls/Fortitude) has directed all six episodes.

Q> Where is the project running?

Layla> The season will be running on ITV and has been pitched to international markets. 

Q> What kind of VFX were in this show?

Layla> Our main role throughout the show was to give the Illusion that our CGI was actually in the sky! So, along with replacing the livery on various planes at the airport we completed a number of external full CG plane shots. 

Q> Was it shot in an interesting place?

Layla> Much of the shooting was in a studio for the internal plane shots. The production department did a fantastic job creating the fictional airline North China Air, it’s very believable!

Little fact for you, episode six landing sequences were shot at Dunsfold Park Airfield. This airfield has been used in a variety of film/TV projects such as The Little Drummer Girl, Catch 22, Transformers and Jurassic World.

Q> Was there anything interesting about the look of the show?

Layla> Throughout the briefing stages with Kieron, he referred to wanting the plane shots to emulate the tension and anxiety which was happening inside the plane. We liked the idea of imagining the plane was almost ‘lost at sea’.

Q> Did you face any challenges around creative techniques? If so, how did you overcome them?

Layla> In order to capture realistic plates for the plane windows for landing, we were involved in the upfront planning of the drone flight path. Looking at maps of the air base, we choreographed a route for the drone to fit with the storyline of landing on a more remote runway. The plates captured work brilliantly! 

Mark Robinson, VFX supervisor on the project recalled, “One of the main challenges was getting the exterior plane shots feeling believable and correct for Keiron's storytelling. The plane was fully generated but we always started from a real reference image to dictate time of day and feel. Kieron was keen to make the plane shots at night feel desolate but also make the passage of time apparent to show the change in time between the UK and the plane on its journey to China. As such we developed a passage of time colour palette which was used for the interior cockpit shots, as well as the basis for the exterior shots. These exterior shots evolved to become a mixture of matte painted elements, CGI clouds and layers of mist and smoke creating a sense of pace.”