THOR : RAGNAROK

Satellite Lab “created the look for Valkyrie's flashback in Thor: Ragnarok”. — Taika Waititi.

We developed this cinematic approach at our studio in collaboration with director Taika Waititi and VFX supervisor Jake Morrison. This included a custom variation of our patented DynamicLight technology, which was transported to location in Australia for the live action shoot with Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson and many winged horses.

THE APPROACH

We were involved early on in the creative process for this highly memorable scene from Thor : Ragnarok. Having provided test footage to the director, Taika Waititi, we were approached by VFX supervisor, Jake Morrison, to supply examples of how different subjects would appear when filmed using our DynamicLight technology. DynamicLight allows us to show high speed (slow motion) footage while moving one or more light sources through the scene at rapid speeds. We shot and supplied footage that formed the basis of the look for this scene.

DynamicLight was developed with the goal of intervening in the representation of time. Being a memory, the Valkyrie flashback scene was a fantastic opportunity to do just this, using moving light as the language of passing time within images arrested in time. The result is an almost soupy misrepresentation of time, a dream-like recollection.

THE SHOOT

We shipped our DynamicLight rig down to The Gold Coast, Australia for the shoot and worked with the existing gaff and grip teams to get the rig set up. We made some adjustments for the size of the scene to enable us to cast light across a wide enough area. We had 180 individual lights spread out over 360 degrees in the rig. The camera was running at around 1000 FPS during each take to give a sense of slow motion soupy-ness while retaining some sense of movement. Individual characters, actual horses, maquettes and elements were all filmed over the shoot days. Due to DynamicLight being an in camera effect it was easy to review each shot straight after it was captured.

THE RESULT