Jeff Tracy’s private island was created with background shots from the Seychelles, composited with a plate of the pool and a CG family compound image.

A Hideaway in Paradise
One element of the series that fans remember the most is Jeff Tracy's private tropical island in which the Thunderbirds are secretly sheltered. The island itself was a real location captured in the Seychelles Islands. "The atoll that we selected had a fancy hotel with many isolated huts and a restaurant", says Nelmes. "The first thing we had to do was to paint this all out, then reconstruct the landscape with trees copied elsewhere in the plates, and finally add the Tracy compound in CG. It had to be computer generated because the camera was moving a lot in those shots. When you see the ships stationed in their respective hangar, the vehicles are 2D matte paintings while the backgrounds are painted textures wrapped onto 3D geometry."

One of the most complex island sequences was the launching of Thunderbird 2. "We had to reproduce in CG several landmark images from the series: the cliff wall opening up, the ship advancing between palm trees that fold outward, the platform that raises the nose up and finally, the fiery take-off. This is a sequence that the fans were very eager to see on the wide screen. So, we had to deliver." After location scouts failed to find a suitable setting for the scene, Framestore CFC opted to utilize two different techniques to create the background. In wide shots, the take-off site was a matte painting composited in a plate of the real island. On the other hand, tight shots were completely computer generated, except for the vegetation. "The palm trees folding up were real plants that we shot blue screen," notes Nelmes. "We had a mechanism that folded them on stage. Between each take, we rotated them in order to get many different tree elements. We also shot hundreds of bluescreen plates of real plants and bushes, using wind machines to create movement. They were used extensively to add life to our matte paintings and CG landscapes of the island."

Small screen fans fondly remember Lady Penelope’s pink six-wheeled Rolls-Royce. The film’s FAB, which transforms into an aircraft and speedboat, was built practically and digitally by the art department, the Ford Co. and Framestore CFC.

Thunderbirds to the Rescue
Where there is a Thunderbird, there is a disaster and during the course of the movie, the ships intervene on two rescue missions. The first one is a series of explosions that threatens to destroy an oil rig. The rig itself was a miniature built by the production. "This is one of the two miniatures that were actually created for the movie," observes Nelmes. "The sequence was so heavy on pyrotechnics and interactive lighting that it made sense to do it in miniature. We then added many elements to bring it to a level of complete realism: CG rain, CG debris, large scale explosions shot separately, and a matte-painting that enhanced the overall scale. We also added CG workers to make the shots look more lively."

The second disaster is the crash of the futuristic London monorail into the Thames. A carriage falls down to the bottom of the river, trapping dozens of commuters in the water. While the monorail was realized with CGI, a miniature was used for the shot of the carriage falling into the Thames. Shots featuring the trapped passengers were created with a clever blend of practical and digital effects. "The carriage was a set piece that was rigged to fill up with water," comments Nelmes. "The set outside was dry, but smoked up in order to imitate the murkiness of the water. By adding CG bubbles, dirt in suspension and the Thunderbird submarine, we were able to create the illusion that this was all happening underwater."

Framestore CFC enjoyed a rather long postproduction time, one year of effects work being a real luxury at a time when three to six months are the norm. "We did about 810 shots for the movie, although 120 were not included in the final cut," concludes Nelmes. "This long post-production time allowed us to do great work with a small, dedicated team. On major productions, there is usually not enough time to do the effects and that obliges us to use very large teams to meet the deadlines. On Thunderbirds, each member of the team was able to invest more into the project and focus on the consistency of the visual effects. This was especially important here as it was a very special world that we had to create, a Thunderbirds world. So, we were actually able to deliver better results with a smaller team."

Alain Bielik is the founder and special effects editor of renowned effects magazine S.F.X, published in France since 1991. He also contributes to various French publications and occasionally to Cinefex.