Linking Between Maritime Heritage and Electric Adventure
Lightship needed a film that could honor maritime heritage, introduce a new category of electric travel and connect both worlds through a single, cohesive cinematic experience. We built the visual system, environments, and CGI foundation that made this story possible.
Client:
Lightship
Year:
2025
Industry:
Automotive
Services:
Creative Direction
CGI Production
Environment Design
Unreal Engine Pipeline
Lighting & Animation
Client:
Lightship
Year:
2025
Industry:
Automotive
Services:
Creative Direction
CGI Production
Environment Design
Unreal Engine Pipeline
Lighting & Animation
Executive Summary
Lightship needed a brand film connecting historic American lightships with their L1 electric travel trailer. The narrative required CGI environments that could bridge maritime heritage and modern exploration without feeling like visual effects. We built every environment in Unreal Engine, creating a cinematic world that honors Lightship's past while positioning the L1 as the centerpiece of electric travel's future. The result is a film with seamless transitions, grounded atmosphere, and visual consistency across both CGI and Lucky Day’s beautifully executed live-action work.
Digital Bunch Solution
We built a complete visual system merging historical maritime references with modern design. Real landscapes were reconstructed to anchor the L1 in believable environments. Lighting, color, and camera guidelines allowed CGI to blend seamlessly with live action.
Every creative decision strengthened the film's emotional arc and elevated the L1 as Lightship's story centerpiece. The film works as both a brand asset and a scalable CGI foundation for future campaigns.
Heritage brands entering new categories must make the future feel like natural evolution. When visuals bridge legacy and innovation seamlessly, the product becomes the obvious next chapter rather than a departure.
Understanding what really mattered for Lightship
The audience needed to experience the L1 inside a world that feels grounded, cinematic, and meaningful. Our role was to respect the heritage, support the story, and elevate the product without overwhelming the narrative. Together with Lucky Day responsible for the live-action footage, edit, and sound design, we built the visual system and CGI foundation that made this story possible.
Challenge
Lightship brought a script linking historic coastal guardians to modern sustainable adventure, pre-recorded contemporary footage, and an emotional brief. They needed everything between those pieces: environments, transitions, and visual tone unifying past and present. The CGI couldn't feel like CGI. Every shot had to match live-action footage in tone, color, movement, and mood. Any disconnect would break emotional continuity.
Solution
We designed a cohesive visual language spanning centuries. Using Unreal Engine, we created every CGI environment from ocean mist to mountain light. The aesthetic balanced maritime atmosphere with modern optimism. We engineered a unified system for lighting, color palette, and camera motion so each CGI shot behaves like it was captured through the same lens as live-action footage. Environments were built with real geographical inspiration, including detailed recreation of Swiftcurrent Mountain, shaped around natural light and atmospheric cues of filmed sequences. Transitions feel natural, subtle, and emotionally fluid.
Our Unique Approach: CGI as Storytelling, Not Spectacle
Lightship's story spans from marine vessels guiding sailors through coastal fog to an electric trailer guiding travelers through modern landscapes. Our creative direction honored that lineage.
We approached CGI as storytelling. Environments echo maritime atmosphere. Diffused light, soft fog layers, and steady camera motion lift the L1 with clarity and elegance. Historical marine references were woven into lighting choices, color harmony, and atmospheric density. Together with Lucky Day responsible for the live-action footage, edit, and sound design, we built the visual system and CGI foundation that made this story possible.
Rather than competing with the product, our CGI frames it. The L1's aerodynamics, lighting signature, and material finish are highlighted in ways that support narrative cadence. Every environment, shader, and animation serves the emotional rhythm of the script. The result feels like continuous cinema: quiet, confident, and rooted in Lightship's identity.
Paola Kadyszewska
Creative Producer
When you're building CGI for a heritage brand, the goal isn't to impress with technique. It's to make the viewer forget they're watching effects at all. Every lighting choice, every atmospheric layer, every camera movement should feel like it was always meant to be there. That's when CGI stops being a tool and becomes part of the story.”
Do you want your brand to shine?
Start ProjectOur goal was to create a seamless visual system where CGI and live footage merge invisibly, allowing the L1 to feel grounded in real environments rather than constructed by visual effects.
Cohesive Visual Language Across Time
We designed an aesthetic connecting 19th-century lightships with modern electric travel. The environments, color tone, and lighting direction echo maritime heritage while carrying forward-looking optimism. Every visual choice reinforced the idea that the L1 isn't a departure from Lightship's history but a continuation of it. Each environment and lighting setup is part of a reusable system, giving Lightship a long-term creative platform that can expand into future campaigns and new marketing assets.
Real-World Accuracy for Immersive CGI
Every environment was grounded in real geography and atmospheric realism. Locations like Swiftcurrent Mountain were reconstructed with precision, capturing the way light moves through mountain valleys and how fog settles in coastal air. This attention to environmental detail enabled scenes that feel lived-in rather than fabricated, giving viewers a sense of place rather than spectacle.
Seamless Integration With Live Footage
Shared lighting systems, unified camera motion, and controlled color palettes ensured CGI merged flawlessly. We matched lens behavior, atmospheric haze, and color temperature so the viewer never feels the transition between digital and filmed environments. The story moves as one continuous experience. Unified lighting behavior, calibrated textures, and consistent motion ensured CGI blended invisibly with Lucky Day’s beautifully crafted edit.
Minimal, Purpose-Built Visual Design
The film's design is intentionally clean and restrained. Environments support the L1 without overshadowing it, and every motion cue is crafted to guide viewer attention naturally through the narrative. We avoided visual complexity that would compete with the product, letting the L1's design speak for itself within carefully composed frames.
The project succeeded because it respected Lightship's story and audience. Rather than overpowering the narrative with visual effects, we shaped CGI around the script's emotional intent. Historical accuracy meets modern design. Atmosphere supports pacing. Technology supports storytelling.
Looking Forward: A Foundation for Future Stories
The film serves as a long-term visual platform for Lightship. The environments, lighting systems, and CGI foundations we built can evolve into future campaigns, new scenes, and expanded storytelling. Rather than creating a one-time asset, we established a complete digital ecosystem that Lightship's team can return to and build from.
What began as a single brand film is now a scalable creative infrastructure. Lightship can launch new product variations, explore different landscapes, or extend the narrative into seasonal campaigns, all while maintaining the same cohesive visual language that connects their maritime heritage to their electric future.
Our approach enabled Lightship to tell a story spanning centuries while presenting the L1 with clarity, emotion, and purpose.
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