Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512164
Petworth House Petworth offered several spaces ranging from its grand staircase, the marble hall, and the long picture gallery all of which were used in a Revolutionary party scene called "The Victim's Ball" where the guests were celebrating the end of The Reign of Terror and the death of Robespierre. The production also used the very appropriately named Picture Gallery Room to create the art studio of Jacques-Louis David, the great historical painter of the Revolution, who painted the monumental Coronation of Napoleon. We recreated just the section where Napoleon raises the crown he will famously put on his own head. We did this using a high-resolution digital file of the original painting which was printed on canvas as a monochrome "grisaille" underpainting in shades of off-white and gray and then overpainted the details in color. Hand sketches were produced as studies to be used as set dressing. Battle of Austerlitz For this sequence, we combined two separate locations together using the best characteristics of each one shot separately and then eventually compositing them both together digitally in post- production to create one landscape of enormous scale. Bourne Woods For the French positions, the production tried to use the natural topography of this landscape with its superb pine tree-covered hills that look down into the valley below. We knew this location very well having filmed there twice before, first on the original Gladiator (2000) and then on Robin Hood (2010). We chose an elevated clearing amongst the pines to build Napoleon's camp just a short walk to the best point of view of the whole site from above. Thanks to the great cooperation that we were given by our friends at the Forestry Commission and Natural England, and were allowed to excavate several lines of field trenches for both cannon and infantry in what is a conserved landscape without damaging the indigenous heather or disturbing the nesting areas of a protected species of newt. Abingdon Airfield The idea was to use this huge airfield site to create a A. ART STUDIO OF JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY ALINE LEONELLO. B. PRELIMINARY COLOR STUDY FOR THE CORONATION PAINTING.BY PORTRAIT ARTIST DESMOND MACMAHON. C. BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ. FRENCH CANNON POSITION. ILLUSTRATION BY ROMAIN HÉMERAY. D. NAPOLEON'S INFANTRY ADVANCES TOWARD AUSTRIAN TROOPS. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY SCOTT MCINESS. E. WATERLOO: NAPOLEON'S CAMP AND CANNON POSITIONS. PRODUCTION STILL. F. BATTLE OF WATERLOO – CHURN FARM, DIDCOT, BERKSHIRE. AERIAL PHOTO WITH TROOP POSITION OVERLAY. A B C D