Baz Luhrmann’s $127m biopic extravaganza Elvis scooped the 12th annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awards, collecting a total of 11 Awrards.
The film also made history, with Mandy Walker winning for cinematography at an earlier ceremony this week: a first for female cinematographers at the AACTAs. No woman has ever won for cinematography at the Oscars or the Baftas.
Elvis took out the gongs for: Best Film, Direction, Lead Actor, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing, Production Design, Sound, Hair and Makeup and Visual Effects.
Cumulus is proud to have contributed CG Environment, Digital Matte Painting, sky replacement and CGI Compositing for the film. Our first challenge was to recreate "Old Memphis" as it was when it was Elvis's home, based on archive photos and maps - and then align that vision perfectly with the existing built set. Cumulus recreated the historical neighbourhood via a 3D model, applying 3D textures and overlaying images onto the model. It was then an exercise of blending this 3D environment with the onset building footage in Comp. We also supplied recreations of typical MidWest US landscapes such as a period-appropriate diner and cotton, corn and wheat fields, for the On The Road Montage and the Diner film sequences.
