Creative brief

For Season 6 of Ice Airports Alaska, Rare TV needed a way to bring clarity and impact to some of the region’s most extreme aviation challenges. Set in the unforgiving Alaskan winter, the series follows airport teams at Ted Stevens International and Fairbanks as they keep vital air routes open amid blizzards, ice storms, and sub-zero extremes.

To support this real-world drama, Little Shadow was tasked with creating a set of technically accurate, visually compelling aircraft simulation graphics. These sequences needed to slot seamlessly into a factual edit, enhancing viewer understanding of flight paths, emergency landings, and logistical pressures, without disrupting the grounded tone of the series.

Our approach

Working closely with the editorial and post-production teams at Rare TV, we designed a toolkit of 3D aircraft visualisations and explanatory graphics tailored to key scenarios in the series. Accuracy and restraint were crucial: the visuals needed to feel clear and grounded, supporting real-world events rather than overwhelming them.

We used a combination of tools to animate takeoffs, landings, and complex maneuvers like crosswind approaches and whiteout navigation. Each sequence was informed by technical references and flight data where available, allowing for precise, documentary-style visualisations. Compositing added subtle glows, overlays, and minimal text callouts, ensuring the graphics complemented the live footage rather than dominating it.

A key challenge was consistency: our graphics needed to integrate across multiple episodes and scenarios. To achieve this, we built a modular graphics toolkit that could be quickly adapted for different aircraft models, flight paths, or weather overlays. This ensured both visual continuity and post-production efficiency across the edit timeline.

The results

Our simulation graphics were featured throughout Season 6 of Ice Airports Alaska, supporting key story beats and helping ground complex aviation narratives for a broad international audience.