You can watch FLITE, the directorial and writing debut of Oscar-winning vfx supervisor Tim Webber (Gravity, The Dark Knight) when it premieres online today on the Framestore website. Starring Alba Baptista (Warrior Nun, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris), the futuristic short offers a first-person cinematic POV; continuous and highly choreographed for the action, giving the film the scale, impact, excitement and appeal of a big-budget Hollywood feature.
Set in a semi-submerged London of 2053 the short explores the nascent and underground practice of “memory visualization.” Stevie, the reigning world hoverboard champion, imprisoned in a luxury high-rise apartment by her controlling manager, is helped by the kindness of a courageous stranger, and sets out on a daring and ingenious attempt at escape. All doesn’t quite go to plan.
“I had been exploring the idea of a ‘Memory Investigator’ while playing with a strong visual image I had in mind of a girl on a hoverboard teetering in a broken window of a luxury high-rise, deciding whether to flee,” explains Webber. “I realized we could bring these strands together and tell the story of Stevie, a young, champion hoverboarder, desperate to break free from an oppressive manager, through the memory of a stranger anxious to help her.”
Filmed in five days with a small cast featuring Alba Baptista (Warrior Nun, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris), Gethin Anthony (Man Hunt: Unabomber, Game of Thrones) and Daniel Lawrence Taylor (Timewasters, Uncle) Webber and his production team adapted innovative production techniques initially developed on the feature film Gravity. FLITE integrates real, layered, human characters into a heightened and breathtaking world that’s grounded in reality.
FLITE has won awards at HollyShorts (Best Genre), Ignite (Best Score and Best Post Production) and North East International Film Festival (Best Director Short Film).
Written & directed by Tim Webber, produced by Simon Whalley and Diarmid Scrimshaw with animation and VFX by Framestore, color and finish by Company 3. FLITE is a Framestore Films & Inflammable Films Production and will premiere online for global audiences at 9:00am PST/12:00pm EST/5:00pm GMT here.
You can catch the trailer below:
