VFX Case Study: The Land That Rewrites History – Taş Tepeler

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‍Writer/Director — Leonardo Dalessandri

‍Director of Photography — Stu Graham

Production Designer — Ged Clarke

‍Art Director — Mert Kanibelli‍

‍VFX Supervisor — Arman Sernaz

Production Company — ShortCut

Adv. Agencty — Apparkat

Music — Reid Willis

Sound Design — Martin Leitner

Color — Alex Gregory

Editor — Ale Dordoni

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Bringing the World’s Oldest Monumental Site to the Screen

The Land That Rewrites History: Taş Tepeler is a cinematic film created for Turkish Airlines, the main sponsor of the Taş Tepeler Neolithic Archaeological Region in southeastern Turkey. Taş Tepeler is recognized as the oldest known monumental archaeological site in human history, reshaping our understanding of the origins of civilization.

The film tells the story of the discovery of this extraordinary region and translates its historical importance into a visually immersive cinematic experience for a global audience.

Lighthouse VFX served as the sole visual effects studio, delivering all 85 VFX shots in the film’s 4-minute hero cut.

VFX Supervision from Concept to Delivery

From the earliest stages of pre-production through final delivery, VFX Supervisor Arman Sernaz worked closely with director Leonardo Dalessandri and production designer Ged Clarke to shape the film’s visual language.

To ensure historical and archaeological accuracy, Lighthouse VFX also collaborated directly with Prof. Necmi Karul, Taş Tepeler Excavations Project Coordinator. This close cooperation informed every stage of digital reconstruction and environment design.

Full-Scope Visual Effects Services

Lighthouse VFX delivered a complete end-to-end VFX pipeline, covering every stage of production:

• Colored shooting boards and concept design
• High-resolution 3D scanning of archaeological sites, props, and performers
• Pre-Visualization of the highly complex VFX shots.
• Creation of fully digital environments and large-scale digital set extensions
• Digital doubles, rotomation, and advanced camera tracking
• Time-lapse & hyper-lapse animations and FX simulations
• Rotoscoping, clean-up, chroma keying, and VFX compositing
• Editorial VFX and final mastering
• Delivery of multiple cuts in multiple languages for cinema, digital platforms, and social media

Advanced Virtual Production & Hybrid VFX Workflow

This project stands out as a one-of-a-kind hybrid production, combining traditional visual effects with highly complex virtual production techniques.

The production utilized:

• A large-scale LED Volume Display with time-lapse animated Unreal Engine environments
• Bolt motion control camera systems
• A robotic stage with integrated physical set elements for full 360-degree camera moves
• DMX-controlled lighting systems synchronized with time-lapse lighting effects

All elements—camera movement, lighting, real-time environments, and physical props—were precisely synchronized to work as a single system, allowing for both in-camera effects and extended flexibility in post-production.

Production Timeline & Scale

• Pre-production: ~2 months
• Live-action shoot: 4 days across 6 locations
• Virtual production shoot: 3 days
• Post-production VFX: ~4 months‍
• Total VFX team: 30 artists

Following picture lock, Lighthouse VFX continued refining and expanding the visual scope of the film to meet the highest cinematic and technical standards.

A Global Cinematic Experience

The Land That Rewrites History: Taş Tepeler is currently being screened worldwide, including theatrical showings, reaching a global audience. Contributing to a project that merges archaeology, cultural heritage, cinematic storytelling, and advanced visual effects was a rare and rewarding experience for the Lighthouse VFX team.

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