Cinesite Production Services Sandstorms Persia
May 24 2010 – Cinesite Production Services (CPS), the physical effects and modelling division of visual effects house Cinesite, was tasked by the visual effects supervisor of Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time, Tom Wood, to shoot physical sand elements to achieve a catastrophic sandstorm for a key sequence in the film.
CPS were approached at the later stages of the post-production process, with the brief to replicate an actual sandstorm to enhance the CGI sand that Framestore had already created. José Granell who heads up CPS, built a tower 38 feet high and constructed a ramp in front of it at Cinesite’s Shepperton Studio facility. To film the shot, José and his team released six tonnes of sand down the ramp on each take, filming it from multiple camera angles. The ramp system could also pivot so CPS could create huge sand waterfall effects.
The entire shoot took three weeks and also included shooting dust trails. During the filming the VFX supervisors were present to ensure that what was being created matched their existing CG elements. “We had some great feedback from Tom Wood who was extremely positive about the end results” said José Granell. “It was a great shoot for us to work on because it allowed us to push our creative boundaries and showcase that anything is possible with physical effects”.
CPS’ physical sand elements contributed considerably to the final sequence, showing that physical effects and CGI easily compliment each other.
Cinesite’s digital team also created over 280 shots on the film, which was released in cinemas on 21 May 2010.