Old London
Posted on Sep 25, 2024 by Samara Husbands
London Calling
Broadley Studios gives us a behind-the- scenes look at the making of Old London, a dystopian short film with an ambitious technical scope
Artwork Kieran Belshaw Photography Annabel Moeller
Old London, written and directed by Kieran Belshaw and produced by Kathryn O’Reilly, is an ambitious short film set in a post-apocalyptic London. Shot at Broadley Studios, it explores the subject of ever-changing society and our obsession with discarding ‘the old’ and replacing it with ‘the new’. The story is seen through the eyes of the protagonist (The A-List’s Ellie Duckles), a survivor crossing the battered landscape of London from the V&A to Trafalgar Square. It paints a stark – and depressingly feasible – portrait of a dystopian future for the UK.
The UE sets were created by Belshaw – a scenic artist on shows like Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon – and when he and O’Reilly approached Broadley seeking a green-screen partner to help bring their unique vision to life, the creative and technical ambition captured the attention of MD Richard Landy, who readily agreed to collaborate on this ambitious piece. This naturally meant using Broadley’s virtual production capabilities to create a realistic version of London as it crumbles to the ground from nuclear bombardment. “From the first time I met the guys, I knew this would be a great fit for our VP set-up: the whole team is super-talented and Kieran’s sets are great,” comments Landy.
When Belshaw, O’Reilly and DOP Yannick Hausler approached Broadley, they came with a wish list of technological ambitions, including full CG sets, cloth and particle simulations and destruction, with the idea to create most of it in real time. Landy knew that virtual production was the clear path forward, and everyone agreed. VP has its own unique set of challenges, especially in productions as technically demanding as Old London, but after conversations on how best to approach it, a unique system of technology was agreed upon.
The studio is powered by Brainstorm Infinity Set at its core and utilises Mo-Sys’ StarTracker Max tracking system, Sony FX9s and FR7s and MRMC’s QRS-1 robotic rail system, with Xeon Quadro A6000 at the heart of their render engines. “The VP set-up at Broadley is a fantastically powerful tool for worldbuilding and, when we were given a chance to test it, I knew straight away it would be perfect to help me bring to life to the film and create a unique visual spectacle,” says Belshaw.
Old London was created using Brainstorm, which proved instrumental in the film’s hybrid virtual production VFX pipeline. “When Kieran initially approached us about working on the film, he was set on using captured tracking data so he could iterate his virtual environments for a full post composite,” says VFX supervisor Kieran Lowley. “Considering his VFX requirements – which included robust object tracking, iterative virtual set and elements of cloth and destruction simulation – a hybrid pipeline was the correct approach.”
Virtual production is a notoriously challenging method of production, but Belshaw and O’Reilly faced this challenge head on. “It’s been a great experience to combine our actors with my vision of a future fictional world. For that I am very grateful to the Broadley team and very excited for the future of this technology,” enthuses Belshaw.
One of the most impressive aspects of shooting Old London is how the film’s variety of bespoke virtual environments and lighting set-ups were approached. Shot across a single weekend, there was one full day of preparation and pre-light. With ten bespoke lighting set-ups and 20 bespoke virtual environments, Broadley had to develop a production workflow that was both robust and efficient. It has recently invested in two MRMC robotic rail systems, one 2m QRS and an RLS-1 lift system for 4m of rail, to give a unique and smooth camera movement.
“Coupling the MRMC and Sony FR7 robotic PTZ with FreeD data protocol was incredibly beneficial,” says Lowley. The FR7 and MRMC allowed Broadley to turn over on a persistent roboticised, repeatable camera movement for the wide shots, allowing DOP Hausler to pick up singles and more dynamic shots.
“Working with Richard and his team at Broadley has been such a delightful experience – they are so friendly and knowledgeable. I’ve felt very supported as a producer and collaborating with Richard and learning from him has been a great experience in bringing
Old London to life,” says O’Reilly.
“I really can’t wait to see this film,” concludes Landy. “It’s been a pleasure to work with such a creative and talented bunch of filmmakers and stretch the tech to deliver new and exciting work.”
Old London is in post-production and set for a 2025 release.
This feature was first published in the October 2024 issue of Definition.
