The fourth season of the popular series True Detective, “Night Country” is set to premiere in 2023. The upcoming series will star Jodie Foster as Liz Danvers and Kali Reis as Evangeline Navarro, who must both confront their pasts and the dark truths lying beneath the Arctic ice.
The main sequence we worked on at Ghost VFX is a huge confrontation that forms a pivotal story moment, as several of the main characters battle it out on a huge bridge. Ghost VFX was tasked with working on the bridge sequence, which spans a fictional expanse of water between Rio de Janeiro and Puerto Rico. And this being the latest installment in one of the biggest action blockbuster franchises around, there was plenty of action. Missile strikes, digi-doubles, helicopters, armored convoys, set extensions, sky replacements, explosions, crowds, snipers, water/smoke/fire simulations, and embers, which means there was never a dull moment in our studios.
Storyline
Where most crime stories end: after a high-stakes heist, when the crew of elite criminals have gone their separate ways and have tried to leave their old lives behind. Past and present collide when a ruthless assassin starts targeting them one by one. Why are they being stalked, who is behind the mayhem, and will they be able to find one another in time to protect themselves and the people they love?
On Set VFX Supervisor ( Season 5 )
Storyline:
The year is 872, and many of the separate kingdoms of what we now know as England have fallen to the invading Danes, leaving the great kingdom of Wessex standing alone and defiant under the command of King Alfred. Against this turbulent backdrop lives our hero, Uhtred. Born the son of a Saxon nobleman, he is captured by the Danes and raised as one of their own. Forced to choose between the country of his birth and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are ever tested. What is he? Saxon or Dane? On a quest to reclaim his birthright, Uhtred must tread a dangerous path between both sides if he is to play his part in the birth of a new nation and, ultimately, recapture his ancestral lands...
Avengers: Infinity War
Cinesite joined forces with Marvel Studios to create 215 shots for Avengers: Infinity War, an unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making. Anthony and Joe Russo directed, Dan DeLeeuw was production VFX supervisor and Andrew Morley was Cinesite’s in-house supervisor.
In his quest to obtain one of the Infinity Stones for Thanos, Maw has kidnapped and is torturing Doctor Strange on the deck of the Q ship. Principal photography for the sequence was shot on a partially built set in Atlanta. Cinesite created large sections of the environment in CG, based on concept work and previsualiation geometry provided by Marvel’s art department. Cinesite’s team rebuilt the ship interior using a modular 3D construction, creating an alternative damaged version for later destruction sequences. The environments included the stunning nodule screen; a massive fluid, motion-based screen on the front of the ship showing the exterior celestial environment, complete with infinite stars and galaxies.
However, the most challenging aspect of Cinesite’s work was the creation of Ebony Maw, an important and entirely CG character seen in extreme camera close up. Actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor’s facial performance was captured using a head rig; this data, combined with set photography and witness-cam footage was used as a guide for the full body animation. The team received artwork and a high-resolution digital sculpt, from which they rebuilt the character.
Further character animation was required for ensuing fight sequences’s loyal cloak!) battle to free Strange, and a later skirmish when they meet with The Guardians. Both Iron Man and Spider-Man, newly transformed in his enhanced “Iron Spider” suit, were entirely computer generated. In dialogue shots where their masks are removed rotomation was key to the successful integration of the actors’ heads with the CG suited bodies.
The fight with the Guardians involved multiple visual effects, from full CG character animation to blast and web effects, CG daggers, Quill’s mask, Mantis’ antennae and damage to the Q ship environment.
Avengers: End Game
Avengers: Endgame is the sixth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which Cinesite has contributed visual effects to. The latest record-breaking box office smash includes 264 of our shots, which were overseen by Cinesite VFX supervisor Simon Stanley-Clamp.Endgame picks up where Avengers: Infinity War left off, when half of life in the universe was destroyed with a single snap of Thanos’ fingers. Five years later, the remaining Avengers assemble once more to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe.
The iconic sequence where Tony Stark is lost in space on board Quill’s M-Ship was largely down to Cinesite. We created the exterior shots of the ship, which show the loneliness and isolation of its position in space, as well as what we see through the ship’s windscreen. We also blackened Nebula’s eyes and added her robotic arm in CG.
The exciting chase of Hawkeye by the terrifying Outriders beneath the rubble of the Avengers’ base was also down to us. With eight limbs for each creature and a great deal of interaction between them, the choreography of the action was a particular challenge.
We created a number of animation cycles to reflect the multiple ways the Outriders move – running, climbing, crawling and leaping. Although Hawkeye is fast, the Outriders are faster. It quickly became apparent in blocking the animation for the shots, that their strength in numbers was also their weakness within a tunnel environment. They get in each other’s way in a confined space, each intent on its prey, regardless of the actions of the others. The scenes were blocked out and the animation subsequently refined for each creature, ensuring convincing interaction with the tunnel environment.
Much of our work involved revisiting scenes from previous Marvel movies Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). For those, it was important to match the content and tone of the original film. Rhodey and Nebula’s brief encounter with Quill from Guardians is one such example. The action takes place on the deserted planet Morag.
( Title Sequence )
Release of Sam Mendes’ Spectre marks another winning collaboration between Framestore and Daniel Kleinman, who bring together their years of past experience on Bond to create yet another stunning title sequence for the franchise.
The creative process spanned almost four months, involving upwards of 30 artists and producers, who worked closely with Kleinman to define the images, style and tone of the sequence.
Robin Hood
A war-hardened Crusader and his Moorish commander mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown in a thrilling action-adventure packed with gritty battlefield exploits, mind-blowing fight choreography, and a timeless romance.
IMAX and Mistress LA came to Framestore with a project aimed at demonstrating the ultimate filmic experience, to capture the essence of what it means to watch and experience films in the IMAX premium format. From early on we helped them scope and shape the brief, helping explore the different vignettes and ultimately realise the story of each scene - for what would be the first ever commercial shot in the digital IMAX format.
Night at the Museum: We worked with Google and Natural History Museums to breathe new life into prehistoric creatures with virtual reality.
Two new VR experiences bring rare species to life in a virtual exhibition of natural history as part of an enormous content initiative, a partnership between Google and some of the world’s leading museums.
ON SET SUPERVISION / COMPOSITOR
A new path in TV production for National Geographic 6-part global event series MARS. The groundbreaking hybrid genre epic brings together contemporary documentary footage and VFX-heavy drama to transport TV audiences to a not-so-distant Martian future.
MARS proved an irresistible prospect for Framestore: offering a unique opportunity to collaboratively shape the narrative of the series, whilst maximising an already robust global pipeline to manage all aspects of the VFX and design components. Granted generous creative freedom by their partners to reimagine the traditional workflow, Framestore was in a prime position to combine its unrivalled heritage in visual effects with lessons learnt from pioneering innovation projects to forge a new path in television production.
When his job along with that of his co-worker are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.
Framestore has worked with long-time collaborator Richard Ayoade again on his second feature film, a dark and deadpan adaption of Dostoyevsky’s The Double.
We were ostensibly brought in for the doubling of Jesse Eisenberg into meek Simon James and his altogether more confident alter ego James Simon, but our work evolved into far more. With more than 150 shots including the opening title sequence, a sci-fi film within the film, a video game and set extensions to create an oppressive city, it was our job to help get Ayoade’s vision for the film from his head and onto the screen.
“It’s a very powerful and striking film, it looks beautiful” says Executive Producer Simon Whalley. “We had a bit of a dream team steering it – Oscar-winning editor Chris Dickens, Erik Wilson the DP and of course Richard.
Snickers 'House of FlyingBean' Welcome to ancient China for the latest advert in Snickers' 'You're not you when you're hungry' campaign, created by AMV BBDO, directed by Rattling Stick's Danny Kleinman and starring Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean, in his first advert since the 1990s.
Framestore was responsible for the setting, invisibly fusing live-action elements shot at Shepperton Studios with a beautiful moonlit city crafted in post
