Unforgotten Shadows

Unforgotten Shadows is a 2013 Ukrainian horror fantasy thriller directed by Liubomyr Levytskyi. It stars Dmytro Stupka, Olena Musienko and Pavlo Li as students who travel to a mystical Carpathian forest to seek out the legendary molfars who can lift a demonic curse.

Horror built on possession and Carpathian folk magic keeps its effects close to the actor. The genre relies on digital prosthetics and the enhancement of practical make-up, restrained facial and body distortion, and atmospheric work — fog, embers, shafts of light, particle simulation — that makes a forest feel occupied. Night exteriors carry their own burden: rotoscoping and cleanup through moving foliage, removal of lamps and crew reflections, matte painting to close off a treeline, and compositing capable of holding a scene lit almost entirely by torchlight. Terminal FX provided visual effects and animation on Unforgotten Shadows, part of its film, television and commercial portfolio.