Thor: Love and Thunder Behind-the-Scenes Photos Reveal Shadow Realm
Thor: Love and Thunder's "Shadow Realm" sequence has some brand new behind-the-scenes photos. Visual Effects Supervisor Jake Morrison spoke to Befores and Afters about getting that dramatic lighting in order. But, this sequence was way more than some incredible saturation. The ideation around a small moon proved to be challenging too. Waititi's films end up being full of visual flourish and this one was no different. When the first trailer for Love and Thunder hit the Internet, fans were blown away by the black and white sequence without seeing the entire finished product. Most reviews of the project made a point to mention the Shadow Realm sequence as one of the film's highlights. But, hearing about how much work went into these elements is nothing short of staggering. Check out some of the facts right here.
"We shot with a progression on the lighting rig that we did for the last picture, the one from Satellite Lab that we used for Valkyrie's flashback in Thor: Ragnarok," Morrison revealed. "It's a lighting rig they call Platelight that allows you to shoot your actors by lighting them normally, but you're actually lighting them from six different angles. You're lighting with a keylight and an accompanying fill for every single angle, but instead of them being continuous sources you turn these lights into what are effectively strobe lights."
A brand new lighting rig helped make that beautiful black and white moon sequence in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ possible --> this new @beforesmag article with VFX supe @jakegoat discusses the Moon of Shame work, and the VFX art and tech behind it https://t.co/CM94St6SLu pic.twitter.com/62qRatJYwp
— befores & afters magazine (at SIGGRAPH!) (@beforesmag) August 10, 2022
"Then, when you shoot your actors, you shoot with an incredibly high speed camera. But, instead of it being a single strobe light per frame, like we used in the Valkyrie flashback, you're now using huge banks of 50 or 60 industrial level strobes, which are lights that are able to be controlled within milliseconds," he added. "I'm not kidding when I say this – we drained the planet of this particular type of light. At one point I had our gaffer, Reg Garside, saying, 'I think I found two more in Iceland…'. So we gathered these lights, then built these massive six light banks all the way around the sound stage in Sydney at Fox Studios."
Here's how Comicbook.com's Jenna Anderson described Marvel's latest galloping adventure: "Thor: Love and Thunder is undoubtedly a change of pace, whether compared to Thor: Ragnarok, Phase Four of the MCU, or even the larger tapestry of superhero adaptations. The film's heartfelt and reverential core feels perfect for its crop of characters and for the current cultural moment, but that perfection is hindered by bizarre structural choices and inconsistent CGI. At times, that messiness only further adds to the charm of Love and Thunder and its imperfect crop of characters, but it does stop the film from becoming another game-changing entry within the MCU. Luckily, just enough of Thor: Love and Thunder manages to charm and delight — especially its stellar ensemble cast — to still make it a worthwhile encore."
Did you love the Shadow Realm sequence? Let us know down in the comments!
