THE THIRD FLOOR London created previs and techvis on the gripping horror film Overlord (Paramount Pictures). Visualization Supervisor Martin Chamney worked with Visual Effects Supervisor Mark Bakowski, Director of Photography Fabien Wagner and the director, Julius Avery, on the destructive opening scene of the film. The challenging sequence depicts paratroopers parachuting out of a plane, after the aircraft is hit by anti-aircraft fire and explodes, sending the plane into a nosedive. Martin Chamney reveals the details on how they made this complex sequence work:

“We had to figure out how feasible it would be to shoot the action in the available space of the enclosed practical set. The staging and choreography of the actors was visualized leading up to the long continuous take of the character, Boyce. He had to exit the plane, tumbling in freefall, whilst avoiding burning debris from the exploded plane, machine gun fire from the ground, and the deployment of his chute at the last minute before hitting the water. With specific direction from Julius, we choreographed how the actor would tumble, how fast he would fall and the relative position of the camera at key moments. Techvis was created to help map the camera crane’s position and orientation in relation to the actor’s spinning wire stunt for the final plate.”