In I Care a Lot, a shady legal guardian played by Rosamund Pike lands in hot water when she tries to trick a woman (Dianne Wiest) who has ties to a powerful gangster.
Technicolor VFX, the VFX division within Technicolor Post-Production, was the sole VFX vendor on the film, with executive producer Kate Warburton and VFX supervisor Nicholas Bennett working closely with writer and director J Blakeson and post-production supervisor Sacha Guttenstein to deliver 309 4K shots for the film.
“This was the type of film where VFX was there to help embellish and emphasize certain sequences, but not to distract the viewer,” said Warburton. “Nick and J worked very closely throughout the whole process, discussing ideas for key sequences right through from the script and storyboard stage to final delivery. It was also great to be able to utilize our global Technicolor network and organise on set supervision in Boston, through our Toronto team, all supervised by Nick in London.”
Added Warburton, “A special shout out also goes to Karl Kuehn, our line producer, who guided the 300+ shots through our studio, even when COVID caused big delays and remote workflows. This film really felt like a team effort, and I’m sure Nick will agree with me when I say it was a pleasure to be a part of.”
Bennett supervised a number of exciting sequences, including a dramatic gunfight scene in a care home.
“J asked for Tarantino levels of blood, and that’s what we gave him,” said Bennett. “We added lots of muzzle flashes, blood splats and dramatic wall hits with huge chunks of plaster and dust exploding out of the walls. The scene culminates with an oxygen tank taking off like a rocket down a corridor. VFX helped to enhance the in-camera action and I’m very happy with the results.”
Bennett also supervised the sinking car sequence, where main character Martha (Rosamund Pike) is driven off a cliff into a flooded quarry.
“The film was shot in the US but as soon as the car hits the water, we cut to the underwater stage at Pinewood Studios in London – somewhere I had always wanted to shoot,” said Bennett. “In terms of VFX we had our work cut out for us. This involved matching the UK car to the US car, painting out rigs and safety divers, adding and removing bubbles, adding quarry lights to the surface of the water, and putting the cracks into the back window during her attempts to escape.”
Concluded Bennett: “It was a privilege to work with Rosamund, who did all of the underwater stunts herself. Her skill, combined with the VFX, all came together for a totally believable and terrifying sequence to watch.”
I Care a Lot premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020. It airs on Amazon Prime (UK) and Netflix (internationally).
