/News

Play Is Serious
March 30 2020
In just a few short days the team at Cutting Edge turned around a cute animated spot for the Children’s Hospital Foundation. The project shines a spotlight on an important cause amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a reminder not to forget those most vulnerable during the crisis. Long, tough, scary days just got a whole lot harder for sick kids in hospital because of COVID-19. The Children’s Hospital Foundation works wonders by funding life-saving medical research, investing in vital new equipment, and providing support and entertainment for children and their families. “We know that now is an important time to help give voice to causes such as this one”, says Creative Director, Zenon Kohler. “The work the Children’s Hospital Foundation does is hugely important, perhaps now more important than ever,” added Ian Anderson, Animation Director at Cutting Edge. Connor Anderson composed a track for the project, giving the spot the…

Zenon and Ian Talk Character Design
March 26 2020
Creative Director, Zenon Kohler, and Animation Director, Ian Anderson, are expert character designers having created beloved characters for Australian brands. We spoke with the guys about how they approach designing a character. As a duo you have designed dozens of successful commercial characters including Wally (Rugby Australia), Steve (Betadine) and Borobi (Commonwealth Games). What’s the secret behind your partnership? Ian: I like to think we bring the best out in each other. We challenge each other as we strive for unique and fresh designs. But he’s still a dickhead. Zenon: In a nutshell, our skill sets complement each other. We’ve worked together for nearly 10 years and when you collaborate with anyone for that long, you develop a kind of shorthand, a mutual respect for each others’ creative contribution to a project. Plus I say something nice and he calls me a dickhead. What makes for ‘good’ character…

Fantasy Island
March 20 2020
The team’s contribution of more than 250 VFX shots on Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island included the addition of characters bleeding black from their eyes, CG sea snakes, and loads of blood and gore; the stuff of a great horror film.

The Invisible Man
March 20 2020
We delivered over 300 VFX shots for Director Leigh Whannell’s recent hit, ‘The Invisible Man’. The film’s a haunting take on domestic abuse and shines a spotlight on often unseen violence. It’s a theme that sets an unsettling tone. The Invisible man stars Elisabeth Moss, and is full of thrills. The tension, suspense and action are all brought together with the help of great VFX. Cutting Edge was the VFX lead vendor, and Supervisor Jonathan Dearing led the team to create a scary and often unseen tormentor. The Invisible Man is now in cinemas and available through streaming services.

Annuli: Double-Blind No.2
December 11 2019
The Double-Blind Experiments is a creative collective of VFX artists and sound designers who embarked on a quest to explore the depths of their own creativity. When they set off on each experiment they have no idea where they will end up or what they are creating. On their second outing they flipped the project on its head, changing the rules to see what it would mean to the end result. They assembled an expanded team of very talented people and got to work. Annuli is the second experiment and follows the success of Double-Blind No.1. The first experiment was created by five VFX artists, a sound designer and editor from post house, Cutting Edge. Freeing the artists from the constraints of a client brief, they were able to find individual inspiration. Each artist followed their instincts, creating their own shots in isolation of the rest of the team. When…

scUber Gave Us the Ride of a Lifetime
November 27 2019
We had the pleasure of assisting Publicis Worldwide with a global campaign designed to drive awareness of the wonder of the Great Barrier Reef and increase visitation. In a collaboration with Tourism and Events Queensland and Uber, lucky riders had the chance to cruise around the Great Barrier Reef in a submarine. The Reef is well known for its beauty and this was an opportunity to experience its rich marine life from the comfort of a ride sharing service. The Cutting Edge team created an on-location post production hub on Heron Island to facilitate the creation of content as events unfolded. Editorial was run around the clock in 24 shifts ensuring we captured and shared the once-in-a-lifetime scUber experience. The campaign was a great idea, executed well, and went on to take out ‘Best in Show’ at this year’s BADC Awards.

Black Antenna: A Ten-Part Sci Fi Film
November 27 2019
This year Alice in Chains released a ten-part film set to their Grammy Award winning album ‘Rainier Fog’. The project was produced by Elizabeth Mason and Oscar-winning screenwriter Nick Vallelonga. The stylised sci-fi film saw a close collaboration between Cutting Edge and Director, Adam Mason.

Dreamworld’s Sky Voyager
November 27 2019
This year Dreamworld launched a new $17m theatre ride. The ride is an immersive live-action 4K adventure, which uses motion-programmed seating and special sensory effects to give riders the experience of flying over famous locations. We have had the pleasure of delivering full production and post for multiple i-Ride films, including Dreamworld’s ‘Sky Voyager’. The i-Ride theatre is an immersive experience that gives riders the sensation of flying through some of the world’s most incredible scenery. i-Ride theatres feature dome shaped projections designed to fill the riders field of view, enclosing them in the experience. Riders are suspended in seats that follow the vision to give the sense of soaring through the sky. Sky Voyager allows riders to experience the sensation of wingsuiting through Tasmanian mountain passes, parasailing over the Whitsundays, hot air ballooning over the Barossa Valley, soaring over the Twelve Apostles, and helicopter mustering cattle outback Australia.

The Invisible Man
November 27 2019
Paramount’s creepy new The Invisible Man trailer is out. Cutting Edge are the sole VFX vendor led by VFX Supervisor, Jonathan Dearing. The film is set for release early 2020.

Global Reality Television
November 27 2019
Love Island (Australia, UK and USA), I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here (Australia, UK and Germany), Australian Survivor, The Voice, Married at First Sight, Sunday Night Takeaway, Paradise Hotel, Holey Moley, One Born Every Minute, Dancing With The Stars… Cutting Edge has helped to deliver some of this year’s most loved reality shows. 2019 has seen Cutting Edge deliver a massive fourteen reality shows. We have overcome remote locations and bad weather, stepped up to the challenges to deliver programs on time and on budget. The production of reality programs often runs 24/7, and reliable post production is critical when delivering the action as it happens. Cutting Edge’s Technical Services team provide on-site post production setup, equipment, staff and round-the-clock support. We help configure a production’s workflow and facilitate the smooth running of the show. Reality television is a worldwide phenomenon and productions are both local and international.…