The Crown

Family, drama, elation, and despair, but above it all one thing remains, The Crown.

Lux Aeterna were tasked by The Crown’s VFX Producer Reece Ewing and VFX Supervisor Ben Turner, with creating a breathtaking cosmic scene for the hit Netflix series. Focusing on Prince William shortly after the death of his mother Princess Diana, the scene shows him in an out of body dream experience whilst at the HR Macmillan Space Centre in Vancouver. Lux Aeterna worked closely with Director May el-Toukhy and DoP Rasmus Videbæk to capture Prince William’s emotional turmoil through visual effects.

Procedural volumetrics and cinematic lighting techniques were used to create a pulse through a nebula, alongside NASA data and cloud artwork being implemented to create a full zoom out from the Earth. State of the art virtual production was utilised to blend the cosmic vfx scene with live footage of Prince William actor Ed McVey in the space shuttle. Our work was projected onto a virtual production screen at the Ridgeway Studios shoot which two of our directors Rob Hifle and Paul Silcox attended.

Serving as an emotionally and visually arresting scene, Lux Aeterna’s work helps to elevate the drama from the terrestrial to the galactic.

Lux Aeterna:
Creative Director: Rob Hifle
VFX Director: Paul Silcox
Executive Producer: Emma Kolasinska
Production Coordinator: Tish Marsh
FX Supervisor: Clive Llewellyn
FX Artists: Mikhail Gubkin, Gabrielle Grigoletto, Paul Greer
CG Supervisor: Timmy Willmott
Composting Supervisor: Tav Flett
Compositor: Alasdair Wynn
2D Creative Lead: Mike Sadd

LeftBank:
VFX Production Manager: Elena Pagliei
VFX Producer - Reece Ewing
VFX Supervisor - Ben Turner
VFX Production Coordinator - Nora Goldberg

Learn how we used virtual production for The Crown here.