Breaking Through Trauma

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The Boulder Crest Foundation remains a force in the field of mental health care for veterans and first responders and continues to champion a transformative approach to healing trauma. Recognizing the profound impact of visual storytelling, the Foundation partnered with Neymarc Visuals in bringing this message to life.

Their collaborative effort culminated in the creation of the film "Breakthrough," a testament to the movement the Boulder Crest Foundation is leading. The film serves as a poignant metaphor for overcoming past trauma and emerging into a life of renewed purpose and fulfillment.

By showcasing the transformative power of Boulder Crest's programs, "Breakthrough" aims to inspire hope and empower individuals to reclaim their lives. This cinematic endeavor represents the fourth filmic segment in Boulder Crest's mission to revolutionize mental health care. Through the art of filmmaking, they bring to light the often-unspoken struggles of those who have served and sacrificed. "Breakthrough" stands as a beacon of hope, illuminating a path towards healing and reminding us all of the indomitable strength that resides within.

Creating the Concept

The Neymarc Brothers knew they wanted to craft a surreal world representative of the mind. They created a world that reflected the layers of trauma that our hero (Demetrius Blocker) had to break through in order to reach his family. To address the traumatic moments that our hero is reliving in his every day life, his living space had to become a war zone, with Marines in active combat in the background. 

Andrew and Remy drafted storyboards to conceptualize those ideas from the mind to paper, sketching out the smallest details, to nail the tone and style of the film.

Virtual Production: Shooting a film prior to being on set

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Rigorous pre-production planning was crucial to the success of the piece. Our VFX team utilized existing concept art and Unreal Engine to not only visualize scenes but also proactively address potential challenges, ensuring a seamless on-set and post experience.

Unreal Engine enabled us to meticulously explore lighting scenarios in advance, empowering the production team to procure the precise equipment needed. The dynamic 3D scenes within Unreal Engine served as a wellspring of inspiration for the Production Designer, Amanda Crout and the entire art team.

Production Challenges

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"Breakthrough" posed a formidable challenge: distilling intricate emotions and experiences into a captivating narrative within an ambitious three-day shoot.  Our Production, Stunt and Art departments collaborated seamlessly as the shoot date approached.

Constructing the set demanded meticulous planning from Production, ensuring timely procurement of props and equipment. Simultaneously, the Art department proactively prepared for each subsequent shot, minimizing camera downtime between scene setups. This necessitated flawless coordination to guarantee smooth communication and execution. 

VFX: Creating the Surreal

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The initial concept boards envisioned a stark transformation of the living room: from ordinary to ravaged, evoking the unsettling aftermath of an active war zone. This ambitious vision necessitated a seamless blend of practical set design and invisible visual effects to create a truly surreal environment for our protagonist.

To achieve this, our VFX team played an integral role on set, meticulously capturing reference footage and conducting LIDAR scans. These scans, crucial for post-production, enabled precise tracking of the camera’s movement, allowing us to faithfully reconstruct the physical set in a digital 3D space.

With this digital canvas as their foundation, our VFX artists masterfully integrated elements into the live-action footage. The result: a breathtaking fusion of the tangible and the imagined, where surreal details seamlessly intertwined with the physical world, creating a sense of depth and unsettling realism.

Building it for Real

In crafting the climactic scene where our protagonist breaks through a wall, symbolizing a pivotal turning point in his journey of healing, the production team made a deliberate choice to prioritize practical sets over relying solely on visual effects. This decision was rooted in the desire to capture the raw emotion and intensity of the moment, allowing the actor to fully immerse himself in the scene and deliver an authentic performance.

Constructing a physical set, complete with a breakable wall, presented both challenges and opportunities. The wall needed to be sturdy enough to convey a sense of realism, yet designed in a way that allowed for multiple takes without causing delays in filming. The art department's innovative solution involved creating a modular wall using numbered foam bricks that could be easily repositioned after each take, ensuring a quick reset and minimal disruption to the filming schedule.

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Blending Narrative with Commercial

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We, the Neymarc Brothers, are increasingly drawn to projects that feature a narrative spectrum. "Breakthrough" is a prime example of this, showcasing our dedication to pushing creative boundaries and delving into the complexities of the human experience through the medium of film. This ambitious project, with its demanding three-day shooting schedule and the seamless integration of practical and visual effects, underscores our unwavering commitment to innovation and storytelling excellence.