Post uncovered: Union VFX on Anemone (film)

Union was lead VFX vendor on Anemone, the directorial debut of Ronan Day-Lewis, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, and Samuel Bottomley.

The film follows estranged siblings who reunite in a remote cabin and are forced to confront their painful upbringing, navigating the impact of generational trauma and their separate life journeys.

The Union VFX team, led by creative director and VFX supervisor Simon Hughes, VFX producer Sean Power, DFX supervisor Jane Paton, and CG supervisor Noel O’Malley, collaborated closely with Ronan Day-Lewis throughout the creative development of the visual effects. The work involved long shots and required the team to develop new methods to achieve the director’s vision.

A key story element in Anemone is the apocalyptic hailstorm, which serves as an emotional crescendo and presented significant technical challenges.

Simon Hughes explained: “As the hailstones themselves were abnormally large, they had to be artistically directed with consideration of the framing and cinematography of each shot. In reality, a hailstorm of this scale would obscure everything; however, numerous layers were built and delicately balanced across FX, lighting, and comp to ensure the final result was visually compelling without becoming incomprehensible.”

The film’s CG creature is a psychological and symbolic representation of the protagonist’s internal trauma and guilt. Inspired by Ronan Day-Lewis’s own drawings and sculptures, the creature became a sculptural piece of art in its own right.

“A huge amount of look development work was necessary,” said Hughes. “The creature had to appear photoreal yet sculptural, with animated internal organs. We translated Ronan’s drawings into a physical, tangible form, incorporating elements reminiscent of a glassy, icy, underwater jellyfish, complete with surface textures and dynamic animation for breathing, head movement, and a beating heart.”

The sequence was shot at night in a quarry in Anglesey, North Wales, with an outline of the creature present for actors and real lighting for VFX reference.

Union also created a fully CG environment for a pivotal long shot in the film. The camera pulls out from a small hut through a meticulously crafted forest, designed entirely from scratch, resulting in a seamless, photorealistic location. Other notable VFX work included CG cars and skies, iridescent skin for a levitating girl, scaling a 5ft salmon to 10ft and enhancing water interactions, gills, and fins.