The flight of Ulick Underhill, directed by Stephen Pierce of Armchair & Rocket was an ambitios short film, shot entirely on LED Volume at Ulster University, Belfast. The film is set, in its entirety, inside a glass elevator in a subterrainian city. It made heavy use of reflection and light cast to sell the effect of the elevator traveling through the virtual environment.

My role was as a CG Supervisor and LED Volume Operator. My role started in pre-production, assisting the production team with pre-visualisations for the elevator set. We needed to make sure that the set's position and size would allow for the camera team to get the shots they needed, without seeing the edges of the LED Volume.

To do this, I guided the Director and DoP through sessions using virtual camera and Virtual Reality in Unreal Engine, so they could ensure the viability of the set, prior to purchasing the physical set.

I also worked closely with production to create the animations needed for the lift to raise and lower between each floor. Each of these animations were used in the film, but doubled as timing aids so that the scenes could be blocked with the actors.

On set, I operated the volume and was a key contact between production, camera and the virtual team, ensuring syncronicity.

The film went on to recieve the following awards: Touchstone Independent Film Festival - Best Sci-Fi Short

Indie Short Fest - Best Sci-Fi Short

IndieX - Award of Excellence | Best Sci-Fi Short | Best Director

SFAAF - Audience Award | Best Sci-Fi Short

IMDB