Starring Richard Roxburgh and Ioan Gruffudd, SANCTUM follows a team of underwater cave divers on their hazardous journey through the world's least accessible cave system, in Papua New Guinea.
Shot on location in Queensland, Australia, and directed by Alister Grierson, this high profile underwater splash post produced and completed VFX in Melbourne with four of our local facilities: Digital Pictures, Iloura, Soundfirm and Deluxe.
Inspired by the near-death experience of co-writer and producer, Andrew Wright on one of his underwater caving expeditions, this Australian made thrilling tale of survival bursts with 3D effects like never before. Indeed, James Cameron was brought on as executive producer, and the film was shot with the Fusion Camera system; the same ground-breaking 3D technology created for AVATAR.
The team at Digital Pictures was responsible for SANCTUM's state-of-the-art, 3D ready post production. Undertaking everything from the 3D conform, digital mastering for 3D cinema, DI 35mm negative, 2D digital cinema, digital colour grading to the HD video deliveries for the production. Partnering with Digital Pictures, Iloura jumped on board to produce the outstanding VFX for Australia's first stereoscopic feature. From simple green screen to complex CG environments to 3D body doubles, Iloura was able to bring to life the claustrophobic atmosphere in this scramble for survival.
Deluxe Melbourne, a pillar in the Victorian film community, also provided exceptional care and high-end effects for SANCTUM's digital image; whilst the serious challenges relating to capturing sound in this epic underwater world were overcome by Soundfirm Melbourne, who were able to 100% post produce the sound. Involving themselves not only, with the mammoth task of re-recording all dialogue, they also captured the reality of the raw sound of an inland underwater cave.
With local VFX and post productions companies renowned for their innovation and creative solutions, as the 3D action thriller SANCTUM exhibits, you need go no further than Melbourne for stellar quality and technical brilliance.
"It was a wonderful feeling when Rachel McKellar-Harding and I met James Cameron after the cast and crew screening in Sydney and he gave us his personal congratulations. As a pioneer of 3D technology, it was a thrill to know he was genuinely impressed with what Digital Pictures and Iloura had achieved." - Rachel Knowles, Head of Post Production - Digital Pictures.
"Through research and development they (Digital Pictures) were able to provide the most efficient 3D workflow on offer, from the offline Avid edit right through to final delivery items, our day-to-day experience and the results were outstanding." - Marc Van Buuren, Head of Post Production.
