Melbourne's period streetscapes and the countryside's rolling green hills transformed into 1950's New England to tell the classic tale of Charlotte's Web.
The production selected Melbourne and the state of Victoria due to:
- The infrastructure that was available
- The talent of the local crew, post production and VFX companies, and
- The production support provided by Film Victoria's Melbourne Film Office.
The film was complicated and challenging as it needed to merge live animals and computer generated graphics on the big screen. Work began with Deluxe Melbourne, who carried out the film processing, while Digital Pictures enjoyed the responsibility of transferring the dailies. VFX house, Iloura, was engaged to deliver 35 full computer generated shots of the main character, Wilbur.
According to John Berton, the VFX Supervisor, Iloura undertook one of the greatest VFX challenges of the film and succeeded. Consequently, the VFX team was nominated for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture at the VES Awards.
