SYNOPSIS
Adapted from the novel by Elliott Colla, Baghdad Central is a crime thriller that follows Muhsin al-Khafaji as he goes in search of his estranged daughter who went missing six months after Baghdad was occupied by American forces following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government.
HOW WE ACHIEVED IT
Being a drama set in a war zone, our work started with recreating the bombing of Baghdad, a truly explosive scene where we used many techniques to recreate the devastating explosions and smoke throughout the infamous bombing. Many other scenes involved adding explosions, smoke, muzzle flashes, various types of military helicopters and bullet hits throughout.
We also provided building and environment extensions from the Republican Palace to the Greenzone, cityscapes and desserts. We also needed to recreate the impact of bomb damage such as adding rubble from buildings, animating blood and enhancing wounds. A significant scene we worked on involved compositing a horse onto a busy road and being knocked down by oncoming US armoured vehicles hitting the horse hard and throwing it to the floor. We shot several horses for this scene and, using various techniques, animated them and comped them into the crash scene.
Other work included background enhancements such as green screen replacements and adding elements such as palm trees to recreate Baghdad.
