Academy Awards
Team Christopher Robin, aka Theo Jones, Chris Lawrence and Michael Eames were looking sharp as they entered the Oscars Ceremony in LA last week đ
More selfies and photos of Chris, and his wife Lorna, Michael and his wife Janice, and Theo and his wife Claire, along with Animation Supervisor (and official photographer) Arslan Elver and VFX Producer James Whitlam.
Sparking joy – Chris Lawrence managed to grab a photo with star of Tidying Up, Netflix Marie Kondo
Oscars Party
The London team dressed up and descended on the AMPAS party at the Ham Yard Hotel to watch the Oscars live…plenty of sore heads on Monday.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone, Montreal also threw their own Oscars party…
Film and TV News
His Dark Materials
*Teaser alert #1*
Framestore is the VFX creative partner for the epic new show, which is based on one of the most celebrated works of fantasy fiction published in the 20th Century. A combined effort from both Film and TV divisions.
Due for release via BBC & HBO, you can have a first look at the teaser here:
Here’s just some of the awesome press the highly-anticipated show has been getting:
GQ
His Dark Materials Promises a Deity-Killing Good Time
Ars Technica
Weâve got our first glimpse of BBCâs His Dark Materials and it looks glorious
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
*Teaser alert #2*
Holy Psyduck, it’s another new trailer for Detective Pikachu. It had over six and a half million views in less than a day – have a PIKA-t it…
and you might be wondering how Ryan Reynolds made the character come alive….
Whilst the Christopher Robin team were gracing the red carpet in Hollywood, advertising work from LA and London aired during the 91st Academy Awards…
Medmen – The New Normal
We partnered with director Spike Jonze and Mekanism to bring to life The New Normal, a short that tells the complex American history of cannabis (and a time when the American President grew his own stash)
Press:
Forbes
Spike Jonze And Jesse Williams Captivate In MedMen’s New Cannabis Commercial
Adweek
MedMen Spotlights the âUnjust Criminalizationâ of Cannabis
Rolex
Also debuting during the Oscars were four inspiring films that feature some of the biggest names in movie directing: Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow and Alejandro Iñårritu â all Oscar winners in their own right. Directed by Juan Cabral through MJZ, each of the films shows one of the Oscar-winning directors composing and voicing a letter to future film-makers, encouraging them to be true to themselves and craft their own unique visions, no matter what.
The London team worked closely and collaboratively with the director, the agency and film editing specialist The Quarry in order to create the various graphics, animations and film sequences that were projected during the live-action shoots with the world-famous directors.
See more here
SKY F1 – New Chapter
A sneak preview of a new spot for Sky F1 due to air tomorrow, the LDN team were led by VFX Supervisor Paul O’Brien and colour by Simon Bourne:
Toyota Supra – Wizard
While we have our motoring gloves on, have you ever imagined what it’d be like to experience being in a giant pinball machine? Led by VFX Supervisor Michael Ralla and Senior VFX Producer James Alexander, the LA team partnered with award-winning director (and our pal from Christopher Robin) Marc Forster to bring the relaunch of the car in a BIG way. With a Supra grade by Beau Leon.
Make Room
A great spot for Netflix, delivered by the LA team, focuses on telling diverse stories in different voices, ‘making room’ for them to be heard.
Press
Wizards and Whatnot
Christian Manz shared how the magic of the Wizarding World was created in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Read the full interview here
Laurent Laban, Animation Supervisor, spoke to Polygon about the rise of CG Bears in feature film and Framestore’s big part in it – from Pooh to Paddington.
SHOOT
Shoot covered Marc-André Larose (MTL) becoming the studio manager for the Immersive team in Montreal. Read it here
The Drum
Framestore’s Jordi BarĂ©s on why the RXBar âNo BSâ ad is exactly that
What we’ve been up to
AMFAM
The VR team is suited up on-site for the soft launch of Samsung, A Moon for All Mankind in Tokyo, Japan…. although this time it is Galaxy, A Moon for All Mankind as Samsung isn’t a brand in Japan – who knew?!
Talk: Welcome to Marwen
Montreal hosted an internal talk with Pierre-Loic Hamon, who was the CG Supe on the project, and gave a taste of how they created doll-like versions of the actors.
RVQC PRO Panel
Chloe Grysole, Managing Director of Framestore’s Montreal Studio and CG Supervisor Adrien Saint Girons talked about VFX in Montreal specifically for professionals in the cinema industry, giving them insight into our world! Adrien also gave a short case study on Blade Runner 2049
Anibrain
Prashant Kumar visited Anibrain to talk about his amazing journey, which took him from Southern India all the way to Scotland, training over 100 people and completing 5 major projects.
Student Presentations
Maxwell Smith (LDN) did a presentation on his recent work on films including Fantastic Beasts at his old uni, Lincoln, introducing 2nd and 3rd year students to his work in the environments team.
Modeller Ruairidh Macneill stopped by London’sEscape Studios last week for ‘An Evening With,’ where students got to learn about the making of Christopher Robin
Fundraising
London Marathon fundraiser
Last week London hosted month-end drinks to raise money for our two marathon runners, Paula Huelin Merino and Molly Haviland. We had visits from Lord Taverners spokesperson and Downton Abbey star, Jim Carter, who took charge of the raffle. We raised a whopping ….
If you haven’t already sponsored you can do so here for Molly and here for Paula. Good luck on Sunday April 28th!
Fireflies Challenge
In the spirit of giving…
Mike McGee will be taking on the Fireflies Patagonia challenge from the 9th March this year in aid of charity Bloodwise. He’ll be cycling a massive 1000km in 7 days and climbing 18000m through the Andes of Patagonia.
Bloodwise is a leading UK-based charity who ultimately aim to find a cure for leukaemia and blood cancers.
Donate to Mike’s page here
Vote for Gigi 
No not that Gigi, our Gigi (Ng) from NY, who has been nominated for an Autodesk Flame award. Huge congratulations on the nomination! Head here to vote for her and click on the ‘like’ button on her profile, every vote counts.
Training
Our MTL and LDN offices took advantage of our training room’s tech wizardry, by sharing an editorial training sesh across both offices.
#InColour
Introducing Colour Assistant, Dominic Phipps (LDN), who graded the new music video for Newton Faulkner. It’s quite catchy.
Also this week, Colourist Maria Carretero (CHI) grades a piece that follows Jasmin, one of the 44 million Americans dealing with student loan debt