TV Series
Outlander Season 8
BlueBolt
The eighth season of Outlander is the epic conclusion to the romantic, time travelling tale of protagonists Claire and Jamie, based on author Diana Gabaldon’s best-selling novels. Claire Beauchamp Randall, a nurse in World War II, mysteriously goes back in time to Scotland in 1743. There, she meets a dashing Highland warrior and gets drawn into an epic rebellion.
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In season 8 the war has followed Jamie and Claire home to Fraser’s Ridge. With new arrivals and changes made during their years away, the Frasers are confronted with the question of what they are willing to sacrifice for the place they call home and to stay together. While they keep a united front against outside intruders, family secrets finally coming to light threaten to tear them apart. Although they’ve left the war for America’s freedom behind, their fight for Fraser’s Ridge has only just begun.
VFX overview:
Led by VFX Supervisor Nic Birmingham, BlueBolt created 160 VFX shots to support the eighth and final season of the epic time-travelling adventure Outlander.
BlueBolt worked closely with overall VFX Supervisor Jon Neill, recreating key late eighteenth century environments for the American settlement of Savannah, Georgia, where the main characters Jamie and Claire are based. The team created CG set extensions for the characteristic Savannah estate homes and 360 degree aerial establisher shots of Savannah town and harbour - transforming and combining shoot locations in Scotland and Derbyshire.
The main focus of the work was a devastating fire at the print shop. The dramatic scene was built up using a combination of specifically filmed 2d fire and destruction elements, with volumetric CG FX smoke and smoke elements to support the increasing crescendo of the scene - in which Fergus enters the burning building to rescue his children. There was a co-ordinated effort between FX, led by Tim Jones, and Compositing, led by Giuliano Vigano. The final moments play out across the settlement rooftops. This part of the scene was shot against bluescreen and all the surrounding rooftops were created in 2.5D by Tamara Toppler, based on location photography.
BlueBolt also created and animated the iconic blue Forget-me-not flowers, accelerating their growth, unfurling and blooming to support their very significant, recurring appearance at the series magical time-travel location of Craig na Dun, to complete the circular story arc of this well loved series.
CREW
VFX & CG Supervisor: Nicholas Birmingham
2D Supervisor: Giuliano Vigano
Senior 3D Artists: Simon Lower, Tim Jones
Environment Lead: Tamara Toppler
SOFTWARE
Nuke, Maya, Houdini, 3DEqualiser, Photoshop,