Happy New Year! And why not start the year with quite an inspiration?
When the proprietors of the office building where @zetadisplay_norway resides decided to refurbish the entire building, Zeta Display were asked to provide an entrance with a visual impact. They certainly did, the entire wall is a giant wave crashing onto visitors, the wave being a nod to the close proximity to the sea.
-We got in contact with the VFX dept at Storyline Studios for them to create this wave, which now runs in a loop, Jørn Olsen, Head of Marketing at Zeta Display, explains.
For Kai Kiøning Bortne, and the rest of the VFX guys, this was a fun challenge.
-We simulated the complex build of a wave crashing into a screen using Houdini, Kai says.
To add to the impact, there is sound designed and created by @liveqube and there is even a device that emits scent. The experience of the huge screen, the crashing wave, sound and scent upon entering the lobby is really something else, and even if it’s dramatic, it feels relaxing. And yes, feedback has been tremendous.
-These collaborations allow us to take visual displays a big step further, to create really elaborate productions, Jørn Olsen concludes.
What a great way to welcome visitors to your building.
#zetadisplay #liveqube #vfx #senses #lobby #gw9
Merry Christmas from Storyline!
As the year draws to a close, we extend our wishes for a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Here’s to creating more extraordinary projects together in 2024!
There were quite a few people in yesterday, and lots of bits and bobs got new homes. Great! Still lots more of the good stuff around though! Doors open at noon, welcome!
Thorvald Meyers gate 7, entrance from Sannergata.
#fleamarket #tvproduction #filmproduction #sound #musicproduction
Prep in full swing! 😊👍😄
#fleamarket
"Kampen om Narvik" (English title, Narvik: Hitler's First Defeat) got no less than three awards at last weekend's Amanda show in Haugesund. The coveted People's Award, Best Sound Design and Best VFX, where Storyline Studios VFX Dept was one of five VFX vendors.
- We are very happy to be part of the team that won the Amanda for Best VFX, Kai Kiønig Bortne says, and well chuffed that the film was so well received.
Congratulations to the guys here at Storyline Studios and to all the other vendors!
#vfx #amandaaward2023 #kampenomnarvik
The brand new comedy series "Hva skjedde med Solveig?" from Seefood premieres now on NRK and features Kevin Vågenes in no less than 17 different characters. Håvard Småvik graded the series, and Joakim Væhle Bjerknes worked on the sound. For Håvard Sandvand, Post Production Producer at Seefood, just these two guys were the reason they chose Storyline for this work.
-We've worked with these guys before they joined Storyline, and we thought this series would suit them well, he says.
You seem to be right there, Håvard, big smiles and giggles have been observed, and the rest of us just can't wait to dig in! Hva skjedde med Solveig? is on from 18 August on NRK and NRK TV.
#sound #grade #seefood #comedy #nrk
A quite extraordinary project came the sound dept’s way this spring, as Hunderfossen created its newest attraction, Musikkfabrikken. Split into three rooms, the attraction offers a unique experience where classical music forms the base and where all senses are engaged throughout.
Room one, Preludium, a self playing grand piano accompanies a film where we get to know the characters. Room two is a 4D cinema where physical effects accompany the music in the film, and room three is a sensory room where touch and movement changes the effects on the screen.
For the sound dept, adjusting and calibrating everything on site was the crucial task here.
-We did a lot of the mixing in Mølleparken, but we couldn’t simulate this so we had to be on site for it to work, Gisle Tveito, Senior Sound Designer, says.
-Also, in the last room there are 16 channels of sound, eight in the ceiling and eight on the floor, which took a bit of fiddling. In the cinema, everything had to be exactly in tune, Vidar Grande, Sound Designer, says. Which included reprogramming the butt shakers, he laughs.
Quite a different project compared to films and tv-production?
-Yes, it was nice to make everything fit exactly to these fixed premises, which meant we didn’t have to compromise, Vidar says. Usually, we try to mix the audio so that it will work in several different movie theatres, he continues.
-And the material was so good! Gisle exclaims, we got the recording from Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, and it was just beautiful to work with.
Watch the video and get carried away, you too!
WE WON! Yes, Kuppel 16, a collaboration between Luuk & David, Stardust, Planet X and the VFX dept at Storyline Studios won the award for best VFX at Gullruten this week. Kai Kiønig Bortne, VFX Supervisor, did you prepare a speech?
-Haha, no! As everyone could see from the clip, I took ages to go on stage! Had to think very quickly, as I don't do this kind of thing very often. But what a great night, wonderful to get such excellent acclaim for the work we do! Also, to collaborate with Luuk & David, Stardust and Planet X was such a cool experience, something we'll definitely look into again, he says.
Kuppel 16, produced by Tordenfilm for NRK, is a youth series, depicting a somewhat bleak future, which meant a more or less complete build of the set digitally.
-Yes, we had around 600 shots all together, so it was quite a workload, Kai says, and we are really happy that Tordenfilm trusted us to take on this project. We had a great time, Kai concludes.
#vfx #gullruten2023 #tordenfilm
AI or Artificial intelligence, is a real buzzword these days. Also within the walls of Storyline Studios. This time Vidar Grande, Senior Sound Designer, has explored what problems AI can solve for the sound department.
-There’s a bunch of exciting possibilities that AI gives us. There’s some tools that work really well for dialogue clean up, and some more exciting voice cloning tools that we are experimenting with, Vidar says.
A current project needs a lot of background voices and conversations in Danish.
-In the past, we would have booked Danish actors and recorded them, which can be time consuming and demand a lot of resources, he says.
As luck would have it, Sound Designer at Storyline Kristoffer Endresen is half Danish, so he performed the lines required, and Vidar used an AI tool, to change Kris’s voice into various different background characters needed for the project. The various voices used were supplied from a library owned by the AI creators.
-It worked exceptionally welI and saved us a lot of time. Vidar says. It also gives us a lot more flexibility. Now we can easily go back and change the line if we’re not happy with it, without having to reschedule a new recording session with an actor.
Vidar is explicit that this is an area with complicated ethical issues. Using it for background dialogue is only one aspect, and a fairly innocent one, but these tools are also able to clone any actor's voice, and basically make them say anything anyone would want.
-It’s clear that we need guidelines in place so as not to abuse it in any way. I have contacted The Actor’s Guild to have a chat with them on how to move forward with these tools and hopefully create some guidelines on how to ethically use these tools in sound post production, he says.
It’s certainly an exciting area with both its pros and cons, which both need to be explored and addressed. it’s not the first time we encounter AI, and definitely not the last!
@storylinere
For Vidar Grande, sound designer at Storyline, the summer holidays were slightly postponed this year, as work on a new animated film for children, Helt Super, had to come first. Quite the action movie, according to the trailer, make way for a brand new super hero!
According to Vidar, sound production proved action filled as well.
-We filled a washing machine with cobble stones, and let it spin, Vidar says.
Right?! Please, do not try this at home! But where did this idea come from and what was that particular sound used for?
-In the film there’s a washing machine that goes haywire. And in sound design the real thing is usually the best source for the sounds you need. So we picked up a used washing machine, filled it with cobble stones and recorded it in the foley studio, Vidar explains.
Crikey. Well, leave no stone unturned in the quest for the perfect soundscape!
Helt Super premieres on 30 September and is produced by Qvisten Animation, and Vidar will have his well earned summer holiday.
See the trailer in comments!
#qvistenanimation #foley
Planet Robin,
a short film for children, premiered at Kristiansand International Film Festival on April 28, where it won the award for best Norwegian Short. Robin, played by Billie Østin, in the midst of her parents' divorce, finds peace of mind in the woods, where she discovers a damaged planet floating in the air. She decides to care for it, and brings it home to keep it in the garage.
Johan Kaos both wrote and directed the film, which started life as a children's book.
-After having written the script, I realised that it would cost way too much and be too complicated to actually realise it as a film, so I sent the script to the publisher Cappelen Damm. 90 minutes later I got a call, saying they loved it, so in 2020 it came out as a book, Johan muses.
In the meantime, Johan had teamed up with producer Gary Cranner, who managed to get support from «everywhere you can get support», Johan says, and a working relationship with Storyline Studios was also established.
Kai Kiønig Bortne, VFX Supervisor, says he's really proud of the film.
-It was a great project for us to participate in, almost everything went according to plan. It turned out just the way we hoped it would be, and it was a pleasure to work with everyone involved. We are very proud of what we were able to reach Johan's and our own vision for the film with the resources available to us.
Johan Kaos is full of praise for the job Storyline has done.
-Storyline in general, and Kai in particular exceeded all my expectations, he says.
Planet Robin has a rather exciting time ahead of it, it will now be viewed by kids at the Short Film Festival in Grimstad, and it will be shown in Oslo in June. In addition, it will travel to festivals near and far. Eventually, it will come to NRK Super, where it will have a long life. Be sure to catch it there!
#shortfilm #planetrobin #vfx
Hunting Flies official international teaser
