 Crusoe
Crusoe is an ambitious adaptation of Daniel Defoe's masterpiece "Robinson Crusoe", and was a primetime series for a 21st Century audience. The series was being executive produced by Justin Bodle for Power, Jeff Hayes for Bluewater Productions, Michael Prupas for Muse, Genevieve Hofmeyr and Phillip Key for Moonlighting, and Stephen Greenberg and Jean Bureau for Incendo Productions. Directed by Duane Clark, Head Writer Stephen Gallagher and the lead role (Crusoe) played by Phillip Winchester.
Synopsis
Following the novel and its treasured tale of adventure, this high-action, fast-paced, thirteen-part series will combine for the first time the pace and energy of network television while remaining faithful to the author's original classic story.
The drama explores the perils and challenges facing the world's most famous castaway as Crusoe (Philip Winchester, "Flyboys," "Thunderbirds") and his native friend Friday (Tongayi Chirisa) struggle to survive on a desert island with little more than their wits. Overcoming marauding militias, hungry cannibals, wild cats, starvation and apocalyptic lightning storms, Crusoe dreams of the day he will be reunited with his beloved family.
Allowed to develop away from the bonds of 17th Century life, the ingenious Crusoe builds a breathtaking and altogether modern home high up in the trees to elude his enemies. Friday and Crusoe's deep friendship is pushed to the limit as opportunities to escape their island paradise, and the people they meet there, consistently challenge them to choose between loyalty and freedom.
Work
For the series Crusoe, our team at Lumière completed an impressive number of shots and was involved in the conceptualisation and design of several sequences. To situate the action in time, our artists had to create matte paintings of London in the XXIIe century, extensions of existing decors, and environments entirely 3D. The famous treehouse was constructed with material found on shipwrecks, was modeled in 3D, taking into account production specifications, and was integrated into shots with complex camera movement.
Since pirates visited Crusoe's island at times, it was necessary to model a photorealistic boat and integrate it in the shots using simulation and lighting to emphasize the sail effect. Our artists also improved some of the combat scenes by adding arrows and CG musket banging. Finally, we had to eliminate several cables and props, and let the extraordinary scenes take place.
Quote
"The best thing about the show is Crusoe's treehouse (link not available from Canada) which quickly taps into the buried dreams of every grown 8-year-old boy. Using the 'Swiss Family Robinson' home as a template, it updates it with inventions that walk right up to the line between believable and ludicrous, then kick it apart with buckled black boots. Still, if you're in the right escapist frame of mind, you'll enjoy most of the amenities, if not the just plain silly orange juice press." Jake Ten Pas, Special to The Oregonian - Friday October 17, 2008, 11:57 AM
Links
Credits
Visual Effects by Lumière VFX, Inc.
President of Production |
Aaron Dem |
Visual Effects Producer |
Laurence Berkani |
Visual Effects Supervisor |
Étienne Daigle |
Senior Digital Artists |
Ian Allard
Mikaël Damant-Sirois |
Compositing Supervisor |
Étienne Daigle |
Matte Painter |
Pier Lefebvre
Grigor Kuzmanov |
FX Animation |
Kevin Seivewright |
Junior Digital Artists |
Maxime Garneau
Matthieu Fiorilli
Étienne Poulin St-Laurent
Pierre Lalancette |
Compositors |
Néstor Benito Fernández
Emanuel Lafrance
David Larochelle
Nicolas Deziel
Anne Foged |
Assistant Producer |
Karina Di Cunto |
Director of Software Technologies |
Mark Visser |
IT Director |
Francis Provencher |
Technical Directors |
Emmanuel Dumont |
HR/Recruiter |
Christina Zervos |
Rendering Department Lead |
David Lalonde |
I/O Editor |
Mike Barber |
Junior System Administrator |
Nathaniel Leu |
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