Walsh Family Media Selected to Create Visual Effects for John Gray Film

Walsh Family Media, an independent animation company and visual effects studio in NY, was selected to provide visual effects cinematography for the upcoming film White Irish Drinkers. The film is an independently funded venture by renowned writer/director John Gray whose projects include Ghost Whisperer, Empire and Helter Skelter.

Walsh Family Media was asked to digitally recreate a crowd of screaming fans at the concert of a legendary rock band. The scene was originally filmed at Lafayette Theater in New York where producers John Gray, Paul Bernard, Melissa Peltier, and James Scura had only 100 extras on hand for the scene. Using state-of-the-art composite and visual effects, Walsh Family Media helped transform the meager crowd of 100 into a roaring crowd of 3,000, the number of seats in Lafayette Theater.

According to producer Paul Bernard, the visual effects provided by Walsh Family Media helped the film overcome budget restraints. “It’s hard to fill a 3,000 seat venue on a small budget so we turned to WFM Services to help create a crowd scene deserving of legendary rock fame.” said Bernard. "It’s amazing what these guys can do on the computer.”

Walsh Family Media called upon their decade long experience in animation to produce the visual effects. According to WFM founder, Patrick Walsh, many of the techniques used in animation involve the same processes used in visual effects cinematography. “A lot of animation technologies and visual effect services overlap. We drew upon our existing knowledge in animation digital effects to recreate the scene,” said Walsh. According to Walsh, the key is being educated in the technology in the pre-production phase to be able to plan to utilize appropriate technology in post-production. Being forward thinking increases efficiency and saves money during production. And “combining traditional film-making with cutting edge computer graphic technology gives a director limitless possibilities in achieving their vision.”

Renowned writer and director John Gray had this to say of his experience with Walsh Family Media, “Working with the WFM team on the visual effect shot in White Irish Drinkers was a pleasure. They present themselves with a high level of professionalism combined with a passion to make the project as great as it possibly can be. They strive for excellence and achieve it every time.”

The release date for White Irish Drinkers has not yet been announced. In the mean time, Walsh Family Media is hard at work on two 90 minute animation films of their own that are about to be released. Patrick Walsh and family are currently in production on their first CG feature film, “The Cool Beans: We Need a Hit”. The film is being produced entirely in NYC. The sequel to this film is also in pre-production.

To learn more about the digital and visual effects services of Walsh Family Media, visit http://www.walshfamilymedia.com

About WFM Services

WFM Services is a division of Walsh Family Media specializing in digital effects, character creation/development and multimedia production. The company prides itself on being a niche player that is able to execute top quality work with excellent production values economically. While many production houses choose to specialize in one aspect or another, WFM Services boasts the ability to be a one-stop shop for your digital effects and production needs. Services range from pre-visualization and story boarding, to live-action, CG and hybrid production, to high-end post-production including innovative visual fx and even audio post. Their slogan, “From Script to Screen and Everything in Between” says it all.

About White Irish Drinkers
White Irish Drinkers is a coming of age story set in 1975 working-class Brooklyn. Two teenage brothers are caught up in a life of petty crime as they try to survive living with their abusive father (Stephen Lang) and their well-meaning but ineffective mother.

Written and directed by John Gray (Ghost Whisperer, Empire, Helter Skelter), White Irish Drinkers features Stephen Lang (Avatar, Public Enemies) and Karen Allen (Indiana Jones, Animal House Starman) Peter Riegert (Damages, Law and Order), Geoff Wigdor (Law
and Order: SVU, Third Watch), and Nick Thurston (Ghost Whisper, Cold Case, The
Lake).

Contact Information

Ryan Schlecht

Internet Sales Manager

Walsh Family Media

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