De Scheepsjongens of Bontekoe

PLANET X FX, CINEMA 4D and a stormy sea.

As of today the 17th century VOC (United East Indian Campaign) period is coming alive again with the national release of De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe, a sailor's epic after the well-known book of Johan Fabricius and directed by Steven de Jong. Within a period of just four months the seven-member team of the young Dutch visual effects studio PLANET X FX managed to create a complete 3D replica of the legendary ship, the Nieuw Hoorn, and have it weather incredible storms on the Indian Ocean.

Since photorealism was required, the entire ship was created in 3D with the aid of the original construction maps of the Batavia (including the complicated rope work). The 3D environment of a stormy, high-rising sea was also developed in-house.

In addition to the development and matching of the ship, the sea and storms in several scenes, PLANET X FX also contributed to the convincing 17th-century settings of the movie with matte paintings, several (wire) removals, day-for-night shots and the addition of many other vfx elements. A green-screen shoot with the actors, especially produced for visual effects purposes, contributed to the further fading of the boundaries between 'live action' and 'computer-generated'.

PLANET X FX is a relatively new, headstrong studio in the Dutch vfx scene. With an intense cooperation between director, editor and vfx supervisor, PLANET X FX delivers a smooth implementation of visual effects. Having contributed to several short films, music videos and commercials in the past 4 years, PLANET X FX is making its motion picture debut with De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe.

More information on PLANET X FX and a vfx special on De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe can be found online at: www.planetx.nl

Info:

VFX-Reel Door Planet x fx / Music (incl. Soundtrack):
Ronald Schilperoort
Director:
Steven de Jong
Producer:
Jos van der Linden, Klaas de Jong, Steven de Jong
VFX-Supervisor:
Dennis Kleyn
Compositing:
Dennis Kleyn, Albert van Vuure
3D-Modeling/Animation:
Bastiaan Hooimeijer, Harry Arling, M. Venema, Peter Pankras
3D-Producer:
Martin Venema