Death of Albine

Short Film

Death of Albine is part of our ongoing series of studio projects, designed to expand and explore our creative output. The film is a collaborative project with British installation artist Rebecca Louise Law and is inspired by elements of the French novel, The Sinful Priest by Emile Zola.

The novel centres upon forbidden love, exploring the affair between a young priest and an innocent girl, Albine. When she is abandoned by her lover, Albine is left bewildered at the loss. She tears flowers from the garden where the pair consummated their love, to make a deathbed. Laying down amongst the petals, thorns and leaves, she commits herself to death.

The visual effects

One of the exciting challenges of the film was the climactic scene in which all the flowers die. Rather than adopting the more traditional, and glitchy, time-lapse approach, we chose to represent the dying flowers entirely in CGI, as this gave us total control and a completely smooth shot.

The final sequence required six photo-real flowers, leading us to explore new techniques, and expand our skills further into the world of visual effects.

The shoot

The film was shot over a weekend in Kent, England. We assembled an A-list team and pulled out all the stops, utilising anamorphic lenses, drones, steady-cam and smoke machines.

Rebecca and her team created two versions of the deathbed – one with cut flowers, and another from pre-dried flowers. The lilies and roses for the garden, out of season, had to be sourced and planted for the shoot.

About the artist

Rebecca Louise Law is a British installation artist, best known for artworks created with natural materials, namely flora. The physicality and sensuality of her work plays with the relationship between humanity and nature. Law is passionate about natural change and preservation, allowing her work to evolve as nature takes its course, offering an alternative concept of beauty.

The Music

The music and sound design for the film was created by Echoic Audio. As well as crafting a beautiful original score, they enlisted the help of composer Andrew Morgan and the Bristol Ensemble, who performed and recorded the music live at Bristol’s Invada Studios.

The final music is hauntingly beautiful and far exceeds our wildest hopes and ambitions. It won Best Score at the LA Film Awards earlier this year.