For “Mildred Pierce,” HBO’s five-part mini-series, Phosphene, an independent design and visual effects house led by Founders/Co-Owners John Bair and Vivian Connolly, garnered an EMMY® nomination from the Academy of Arts and Sciences for Outstanding Special Visual Effects For a Mini-series, Movie or a Special – 2011.
The talented Phosphene visual effects team, which created everything from elaborate set extensions to tiny detail work fixing anachronisms, share the nomination and include Visual Effects Supervisor John Bair, Visual Effects Producer Renuka Ballal, CGI Artist Nathan Meier, Compositors Constance Conrad, Marci Ichimura, Josephine Noh, Aaron Raff and Scott Winston, and independent Visual Effects Supervisor Lesley Robson-Foster.
Phosphene‘s Bair explained the scope of their work. “A lot of changes came into play as the series was filmed in the New York area which had to substitute for Los Angeles in the 30s and 40s. For one lengthy scene, shot against black, we created an industrial landscape to represent the area just outside of Los Angeles including the rolling hills of southern California, with oil derricks and pump jacks churning in the background. For another, which ostensibly takes place in the LA Philharmonic, the footage, shot in New York, had to be completely reworked. We changed the landscape to suggest Hollywood during the depression era, adding lights in the sky, palm trees and mountains behind some of the shots, and the buildings of Los Angeles in the background.” Phosphene utilized Nuke, 3D Studio Max and After Effects CS5 and PC’s running Windows 7 in the execution of this project.
Kendall McCarthy, HBO Associate Producer said, "We were just blown away with the work that Phosphene did on ‘Mildred Pierce.’ After looking at the entire series you would never believe we shot the entire 1930’s LA based story in modern day New York (NYC, Long Island and Peekskill, NY). The visual effects on this project are just seamless – you don’t even realize you’re looking at a visual effect – and yet they’re everywhere in ‘Mildred.’ The true brilliance of Phosphene‘s work is that it always enhanced Ed Lachman’s wonderful cinematography and Kate Winslet’s brilliant performance. Phosphene was just a huge part of creating this wonderfully off-kilter world that ‘Mildred’ inhabits. Their attention to detail cannot be matched and their ability to come up with creative solutions to tricky logistical problems can always be relied upon. The schedule and work-load for ‘Mildred Pierce’ was extremely intense, but Phosphene never seemed phased by it. And we were always wowed by what they delivered."
“Mildred Pierce” director Todd Haynes added, “Phosphene‘s work was exemplary. Their artistry, invention and overall commitment were superb and their entire staff was always a pleasure to work with.”
HBO Miniseries Presents in Association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer a Killer Films/John Wells Production of a Film by Todd Haynes, “Mildred Pierce”, directed from a teleplay by Haynes and Jon Raymond, was based on James M. Cain’s 1941 novel. Kate Winslet stars in the title role (also starring Guy Pearce and Evan Rachel Wood) as proud single mother who struggles to earn her daughter’s love during the Great Depression in middle-class Los Angeles. The HBO Miniseries “Mildred Pierce” topped the EMMY list with 21 nominations.
The 63rd Primetime Emmy® Awards, celebrating excellence in national primetime programming, will air live from the NOKIA Theatre in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, September 18th at 8pm EDT/5pm PDT on the FOX Network, and will be hosted by “Glee” star Jane Lynch.
About Phosphene:
Phosphene is an independent design and visual effects house led by Founders/Co-Owners John Bair and Vivian Connolly. Since opening its doors in 2010, Phosphene has designed and executed effects for “You Don’t Know Jack” (HBO), “Salt”, “The Adjustment Bureau,” “The Beaver” and “Vanishing on 7th Street.” Today, Phosphene is designing and executing elaborate virtual environments for Brett Ratner’s thriller “Tower Heist” with Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy and Alan Alda, beginning work on Stephen Daldry’s "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" with Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and John Goodman, and has just wrapped Jason Reitman’s second collaboration with Diablo Cody, "Young Adult," starring Charlize Theron.
For their television clients, in addition to the work they recently completed for “Mildred Pierce,” Phosphene has teamed once again with HBO to create all visual effects for the second season of “Treme,” and has completed numerous shots for season 5 of NBC’s “30 Rock.”
Phosphene is located at 180 Varick Street, Suite 1621, New York, NY 10014. For further information contact vivian@phosheneFX.com; Phone (646) 350-3370; Fax (212) 671-1734; or visit www.phosphenefx.com
