Sunday Times Unquiet Film Series – Photojournalism

Coffee&TV has collaborated with Director, Simon George, to deliver one of a series of films for the Times & Sunday Times online project–the Unquiet Film Series. Upon it’s arrival, The Sunday Times Magazine broke the mould of weekend newspaper publishing, not only as the first colour supplement to be published with a UK newspaper but also as it quickly became renowned for its in-depth journalism, high-quality photography and extensive range of subject matter. To celebrate its’ rich history of photojournalism, the film embraces several significant and poetic moments captured and published throughout the decades by giving them a unique treatment to instill the viewer right into the heart of the image. Using a technique developed by Creative Director, Simon Clarke and Lead Artist, Graham Stott, each shot was given full 3D geometry to bring movement and a level of reality. The nature of the images decided the overall approach to each shot. The complex geometry needed was generated in cinema 4d and xsi and then animated and composited in after effects or Fusion. ‘By analysing the photographs with specific techniques, we were able to calculate dimensions and generate highly accurate and detailed environments and models to match the images.” said Graham. ‘The original camera lens information was extrapolated and a virtual camera placed in scene to project the image back onto the 3d set. “ Once the camera moves were working, missing parts of the image which were initially hidden behind the foreground objects were then generated before very subtle animation was added to really bring the shots to life, immersing the viewer in the moment the photograph was taken. Steve Waugh finally added a design element to the transitions and titles and offered an overall creative treatment and embellishment of each individual shot. ‘Challenges varied immensely from shot to shot” added Graham, ‘either by requiring complicated geometry builds such as the heart transplant shot, or by requiring incredibly detailed foreground removal such as the honey hunter photograph. The most challenging shot was the Olympic preparation shot, which not only required a huge amount of plate preparation, but also very detailed geometry for the tree and the stadium with the many hundreds of volunteers creating the vital paralax.” Graham said ‘It was great to work with the Director Simon George again. This film gave us the scope to build on the methods we had previously developed for him on World War II from Space, allowing us to push the boundaries of the techniques to breath life into the photographs in as faithful and sympathetic a way as possible. “ www.foreverunquiet.co.uk