Creative brief

Commissioned as part of director Will Cornelius’s Craft of Movement series, SPRINTER sets out to embody athleticism as cinematic narrative. Inspired by Michael Johnson’s new sporting format, Grand Slam Track, which challenges only the best to “prove you’re exceptional,” Will imagined a sprint not just as a physical feat, but a journey. The vision: an athlete accelerating from the salt flats to the stadium, weaving metaphor and motion into a stylised piece fit for high-concept commercial storytelling.

Our approach

Originally envisioned for the Utah Salt Flats, the shoot pivoted to a green screen studio, without compromising scope. Little Shadow joined early, helping Will test and refine an AI-assisted location scouting process. A hybrid of GenAI prompt development, high-res stills, and realtime compositing tools allowed us to previsualise scenes before stepping on set. The result: a meticulously pre-planned shoot, with full scene design and lighting setups locked in advance.

We shot athlete Linford Christie at 1000fps on the Phantom 4K Flex at Malcolm Ryan Studios. With motion control rigs ensuring fluidity in tracking shots, our VFX brief centred on grounding this high drama in a believable yet stylised world. Working across six major scenes, cityscapes, digital deserts, and abstract transitions, we combined live action, AI-generated environments, and bespoke stock footage.

On-set, Little Shadow’s virtual production toolkit enabled real-time keying and live comp previews. This closed the loop between previs and performance, letting Will and his team adjust compositions on the fly, refining each frame with narrative precision.

Post-production included advanced compositing, AI cleanup passes, and a restrained use of visual flourishes to retain clarity. The sound design by 750mph and colour by Stephen Thayalan added a grounded sonic and tonal polish to complete the film’s arc from raw athleticism to stylised cinema.

The results

Delivered a fully composite short film spanning 6 hybrid scenes, combining AI, VFX and live action. Wrapped ahead of schedule thanks to real-time workflows. Will Cornelius’s SPRINTER has since featured as a case study in the Craft of Movement series and continues to spark conversation on the future of mixed-media storytelling.