May 08
They Came From Upstairs (feature film)
Team Velocity was part of the creative solution for Twentieth Century Fox’s Tent Pole feature film “They Came From Upstairs” filmed in New Zealand.

Producer Mark Fischer was tasked by Fox to put together an action team for additional photography for some exciting and challenging live action scenes involving both stunts and visual effects for “They Came From Upstairs”. Mark and the studio chose Director John Mahaffie to head up the action unit. Mark, John and Paul Shapcott (Stunt Coordinator) decided that the scenes would benefit greatly from having a team on board that could provide high speed computerized winch technology for both stunts and camera.

The scenes demanded the utmost in precision and safety due to a very size-constricted set and the fact that all cast members being flown were children. A complicated choreography of 3D performer and camera flying was required to carry out John’s vision for the scenes.

John, Paul and Mark knew that there were only a few select groups in the world that could provide them with the technical solutions for their scenes without compromising the safety of the cast or John’s creativity. Based on our previous working relationship (on “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”) John and Paul chose Team Velocity to help them realize John’s vision for the scenes. They felt that not only did Team Velocity have the best technology; they had the right approach and attitude.

Team Velocity worked seamlessly with Paul and his talented team of Kiwi stunt riggers to fly up to five of the performers simultaneously to create John’s vision for the scenes. John’s confidence in both Paul and his rigging team and in Team Velocity allowed him utilize the entire young cast to perform all their own stunts, dramatically opening up his creative scope. Velocity’s Pathfinder performer flying rig was used to fly Carter Jenkins through exciting complex 3D flight paths with an added fourth axis of motion for a dizzyingly heart stopping 360 degrees of rotation. John also used Velocity’s Vector-Cam cable cam rig to precision fly camera in 3D through an obstacle course of performers at speeds up to 5m/s to create visually dramatic POV shots.

Mark and Annie Dodman (Production Manager) were pleased to find that Team Velocity’s reputation for professionalism, creativity and flexibility extended to quickly working out the logistics and budgets to meet a compressed timeline. Within just a few days of receiving the job call, working closely with Annie and Mark, Team Velocity was able to determine and meet the requirements of the Director, Stunt Coordinator, Art and Construction departments.

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