Beyond Endurance
Revenant
Intro
Revenant has transformed one of history's most epic tales of endurance into art with our title sequence for the conceptual show, Beyond Endurance, based on Ernest Shackleton's 1914 voyage to the Antarctic. Built in a distinctive 2.5D style formulated specifically for the sequence, the creative goal was for each frame to seem to be plucked from a watercolour artist’s sketchbook. Strong swathes of colour wash over shots in jagged movements akin to a biting storm. Though beautiful, the visuals are cloaked with feelings of dread and helplessness, evoking how the trapped crew would have felt as they prayed for rescue. Devised by Revenant’s bespoke, in-house motion design crew, the team used experimental tools and techniques to create the unique atmosphere of the sequence, all built in Cinema 4D and After Effects.
Storyboard
When we settled on the Shackleton story, we wanted the visuals to reflect the harsh, brutal landscape that the crew endured. The mentality of these men is reflected in the sequence’s composition and surreal moments.
Styleframes
We explored several different approaches, before settling on a more expressive and hand touched feel.
Behind the Scenes
Our visual language helped distil a human touch to the story, while also acting as a vehicle to drive the narrative. We achieved this through true collaboration between artists, allowing them to bring their own expression to the piece. Once the cameras were locked off, we built the scenes in Cinema 4D. Modelling was done in ZBrush and character animation in Maya. The visual Effects and compositing was created in After Effects.
Credits
Supervising Producer
Sean Kelly
Senior Production Coordinator
Maggie McCabe
Junior Production Coordinator
Liam Pert
Art Director
Ross Sneddon
Lead MGFX Artist
Rafael Bichalho
MGFX Artist
Emily Thomson
Junior MGFX Artist
Christian Oroz Storm
Character Modelling, Texturing and Shading
Jacq Burns