About
As the sole VFX artist, I completed all creative compositing work for Gillian Armstrong’s documentary about Hollywood costume designer Orry-Kelly. His costumes brought magic to classics like Some Like It Hot, 42nd Street, The Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca. It was a real honor to work with Armstrong, regarded as cinema royalty in Australia and known internationally for Charlotte Gray, Oscar and Lucinda, and Little Women. Her films have competed for everything from the Palme d’Or at Cannes to the Golden Bear at Berlin.
Creative Process
Armstrong is famous for her theatrical, somewhat kitschy aesthetic – perfect for telling the story of the dandy-like Orry-Kelly. I leaned into this, giving the oceans in our cut-scenes a strong emerald hue and creating almost over-the-top sunset matte paintings for sky replacements. Plus some unexpected technical challenges – like painting out ducks, given that the shoot had taken place on a river 🤣
Workflow
Still in my After Effects days then, working in Log C with a Prores workflow. I used Neat Video to restore old footage and added 16mm treatments with film conversion LUTs. While I’ve moved to Nuke since then, this project really showed what AE could do.
Team
For the duration of the project, I worked alongside the Oscar-winning team at Soundfirm, where the final sound and picture were completed.
