Joe Scot, played by Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Layer Cake), is a washed up Hollywood star whose hedonistic lifestyle of sex, drugs and fame has taken its toll. Shunned by the public and leading an aimless life in his Malibu mansion, it is the death of his best friend that forces him to look back on the days of his youth in 1970’s England, to recognise and face up to the ghosts of his past. Directed by Baillie Walsh (Mirror Mirror, Oasis - Lord Slow Me Down) and with up and coming actor Harry Eden (Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist, Pure) playing young Joe Scot.

LipSync started by scanning the 35mm Cinemascope film on its pin-registered Northlight film-scanners for the DI. LipSync’s Glen Pratt, Visual Effects Supervisor, then oversaw all the visual effects for the film, completing 70 VFX shots in total.

These effects ranged from simple clean-ups and camera stabilisations to more conventional compositing techniques. LipSync were also charged with creating subtle effects to enhance John Mathieson’s photography during key moments within the film.

For a dance sequence between young Joe Scot and Ruth, LipSync created the equivalent of a lens filter effect to enhance the dreamy feel of the scene. Walsh wanted to capture a sense of magic and add to the emotion of the moment. LipSync arrived at the solution by using a variety of filter techniques on the highlights of the image and then subtly integrated within the shot. The result adds a subliminal ephemeral touch to the scene.

A series of underwater shots also involved intricate VFX work. Although the scene was shot in a pool, LipSync created a realistically dark and murky ocean effect. This was achieved using a 2D approach by adding particles and volumetric filtering created within Shake.

Compositing work was also completed to enhance the effects of an explosion, and other work involved changing South African locations to look more like Los Angeles and the UK.

“It was a joy to work with LipSync,” says Baillie Walsh, Director. “They were patient and incredibly accommodating, and always willing to try things out.”

“Flashbacks of a Fool was an extremely touching film to work on, and it was crucial that we enhanced the sensitivity of the film through the VFX,” comments Stefan Drury, Head of VFX, LipSync Post. “We were lucky to have the wonderful photography of DOP John Mathieson to work with and Baillie was incredibly approachable and open to the whole visual effects process which made the work that much more enjoyable.”