Working closely with director Cosmo Fielding-Mellen and editor Nick Packer, we provided around thirty minutes of in film sequences for Passion Pictures, The Sunshine Makers. The film explores the original creators of the infamous 1970’s acid Orange Sunshine, Nick Sand and Tim Scully.

The primary sequence above is part of our Investigation Board series. The film makers were seeking a device which could help aid the narrative, as archival footage was scarce and access to the police personnel was only forthcoming towards the end of the edit. The device needed to be primarily narrative, while still remaining true to the aesthetic of the time. With over eighteen instances of the board appearing in the film, it became character like in its functionality. 

We spent some time researching a range of references for the investigation board aesthetic. We wanted it to feel authentic but didn’t require to hide its origins as a design element. We embraced this decision, and went hunting for original seventies assets that could be used in our composites. We worked with an original vintage cork board, period specific paper, note pads and pins, and police photographic references. Shooting them as 4K plates we were then able to composite and animate the assets as separate edit-able elements. We were guided narratively by editor Nick Packer, who provided offline guides of key information.

After the investigation board is a shorter sequence of a “lab reveal.” Again, due to the lack of original archive, these were created to bring to life the laboratories creating Orange Sunshine. Animated by Sylvain Doussa, he was able to create a composite and animation of the lab and the person inside with just a few references.

Sequence credits were 

Motion Design
Blue Spill

Design Director
Allison Brownmoore

VFX Director
Anthony Brownmoore

Lead Motion Designer
Joe Nowacki

Animator
Sylvain Doussa

Design Assistant
Sara Rai

Roto Artist
Isabel Howlett