New High-Speed Lighting Technique Illuminates ‘Ride Of The Valkyries' In Marvel Blockbuster

By Vision Research, Inc.

Using a Phantom camera and custom lighting rig, one creative studio found a way to move light at eight times the speed of sound – a new lighting technique for high-speed imaging that gained critical acclaim in Thor: Ragnarok.

The actors, including Cate Blanchett, stunt performers and soon-to-be-winged horses, take their places against the bluescreen. Above them hangs a large, circular rig adorned with hundreds of strobe lights. As soon as the director calls “action,” artist Carlo Van de Roer hits the button – triggering the high-speed Phantom camera system and lighting array. The bulbs flash sequentially around the ring so fast, it appears to happen instantaneously.

The resulting effect, however, is being lauded by film critics as the most visually-stunning scene in a Marvel movie ever.