Horizon | Case Study
CG
Set Extensions
Fire & Explosions
Environments
Water
Kevin Costner's epic western is nearly 30 years in the making. Part 1 of the 4 part saga sets the stage for an emotional journey across the American West. We are introduced to an ensemble cast of characters who each face their own battles and turmoil to find, or protect, their homes.
Horizon: An American Saga (part 1) released in theaters in summer 2024.
Scope
We delivered 256 shots for Chapter 1, totaling 37,745 frames or about 26 minutes of runtime. This included a wide variety of invisible VFX work, including the addition of CG horses, humans, and insects, smoke and fire, blood and gore, augmentations of the expansive views of the American West, and the substantial CG river environment that runs through the town of Horizon itself.
Technology Used:
Maya, Nuke, Houdini, Hiero, Autodesk Flow Production Tracking, Solaris/USD, and RenderMan.
Limitations with the shooting location meant that the set of Horizon could not be construced near a real river. On set, a shallow ditch was dig out and filled with water to allow for some degree of practical interaction with the characters.
Meanwhile, we were tasked with creating a complex fully-CG river valley that stretched for several miles in both directions and the detailed compositing that blended the water and surrounding terrain seamlessly into the stunning photography of the film
The River
Much of the first half of the film takes place near the banks of a river, where the fledgling town of Horizon has begun to grow. It sets the stage for the aspirations as well as the tragedies of all the film’s characters.
Much of the first half of the film takes place near the banks of a river, where the fledgling town of Horizon has begun to grow. It sets the stage for the aspirations as well as the tragedies of all the film’s characters.
The River
Limitations with the shooting location meant that the set of Horizon could not be constructed near a real river. On set, a shallow ditch was dug out and filled with water to allow for some degree of practical interaction with the characters.
Meanwhile, we were tasked with creating a complex fully-CG river valley that stretched for several miles in both directions and the detailed compositing that blended the water and surrounding terrain seamlessly into the stunning photography of the film
The team created different elements of the CG water, such as flow speed, currents, and turbulent sections of whitewater, that allowed Costner to have nearly total creative control over the look and feel of the river and nearby environment.
The river is supported by a 10 square mile CG landscape: from the cut banks, mud, and rocks that interacted with the water, to the eroded river valley of ‘forever grass’ that stretched into the distance. Overall the river is seen in 80 shots throughout the film.
Due to high winds on the day of filming, practical fire was not possible for safety reasons - only around 10% of what is shown in the film is practical flame. The remaining fire, smoke, and embers were created with a mix of 3D and 2D elements.The sequence ultimately included: including fire and smoke, raining embers, CG crowd, a complete “digi-double” horse and rider, muzzle flashes, blood and gore, and the river environment - with a few shots featuring all aforementioned elements on-screen at the same time.
The Night Raid
This pivotal scene takes place early in the film, and alters the trajectory of several key characters in the saga, it required a substantial amount of VFX work across 75 shots
The Night Raid
This pivotal scene takes place early in the film, and alters the trajectory of several key characters in the saga, it required a substantial amount of VFX work across 75 shots
Due to high winds on the day of filming, practical fire was not possible for safety reasons - only around 10% of what is shown in the film is practical flame. The remaining fire, smoke, and embers were created with a mix of 3D and 2D elements.
The sequence ultimately included: fire and smoke, raining embers, CG crowd, a complete “digi-double” horse and rider, muzzle flashes, blood and gore, and the river environment - with a few shots featuring all aforementioned elements on-screen at the same time.
We recreated the Dance Hall in 3D and ran several large, custom pyro simulations with different stages of destruction as it burns throughout the raid. Simulations of the cloth were created so the canvas movement responded to the updrafts. Charred and glowing areas were added to the burning parts of the structure.
The tent explosion was augmented to appear much more impactful. After the initial pyro simulations established the larger scale, all of the nearby physical tents, wagons, and objects needed to react to the pressure wave. The wagon was built digitally so it could be flipped over and blown to pieces, and tents were again reconstructed with added cloth simulations to react to the explosion.
Fire & Mayhem
Crowds
In addition to the mayhem of the fires and explosives, we also populated the scene with digital extras of settler and Native characters. The CG characters have simulated cloth and hair, as well as lighting to match their movements as they run through the environment and interact with their surroundings.
Day for Night
A moonlit horse-chase follows the attack in the town. The scene was shot in broad daylight, and later transformed to match the timeline of the rest of the raid sequence. Digital paintings were created for all the on-screen elements, including a replacement for the entire sky, allowing compositors to shape the lighting to appear as though the scene was shot at night.
Crowds
In addition to the mayhem of the fires and explosives, we also populated the scene with digital extras of settler and Native characters. The CG characters have simulated cloth and hair, as well as lighting to match their movements as they run through the environment and interact with their surroundings.
Day for Night
A moonlit horse-chase follows the attack in the town. The scene was shot in broad daylight, and later transformed to match the timeline of the rest of the raid sequence. Digital paintings were created for all the on-screen elements, including a replacement for the entire sky, allowing compositors to shape the lighting to appear as though the scene was shot at night.
World Building
The world of Horizon takes the visuals of the West to new heights - revealing fantastic scenery throughout the film. The invisible visual effects created by our team built upon Kevin Costner’s incredible vision for this saga and we are thrilled with the results.
"The visual effects work from Ingenuity Studios in 'Horizon' was so seamless that no one even questions the results. We were especially impressed by their work creating the river and the simulated physics of its movement, including the impact of storms and light, and the interactions with people and CG horses. The massive fires ripping through the town during the massacre scene are so overwhelming that they really underscore the danger unfolding. We also found the environment work, integrating the practical horse and rider traversing a steep and treacherous canyon ledge that the Ingenuity team made convincingly real an absolute feat."
-Jamie and Jason Neese, Co-Producers and VFX Supervisors