The week we save the reef from grief (07.05.21)

The SHEBA Hope Reef

Framestore Pictures Director Murray Butler (NY) and VFX Supe Grant Walker (LDN) teamed up with AMV BBDO and Sheba to bring a stunning coral reef to life, unveiling the start of the world’s biggest coral reef restoration programme. The 90-second spot in all it’s beauty has a serious underlying environmental message: intervention is needed to stop climate change causing devastation to coral reefs around the world.

The LDN IA team delivered three breathtaking CG environments that drive the narrative from destruction to hope, as well as replicating hundreds of species of coral, fish, moss and sediment, all of which were approved by scientist Professor David Smith who ensured all marine life looked and reacted as they would in real life.

The best thing about this? With every video view, advertising revenue is donated to The Nature Conservancy to support its reef restoration initiatives. So get watching people!

Our CG work is under embargo, we should be able to share more details soon.

Press

Forbes

AdWeek


1899

The cat is finally out of the bag: Framestore is on board 1899, the latest epic episodic project from the award-winning creators of Dark. VFX Supe Christian Kaestner (MTL) is leading the work – which takes in previs, virtual production and VFX – and is currently in Germany with a 19-strong Framestore team who’ve pushed through all sorts of byzantine quarantine and lockdown measures to get the project off the blocks. The team are on site and working away at the brand spanking new Dark Bay facility – Europe’s largest LED volume. A split-site (LDN and MTL) show, 1899 is a mysterious historical drama with an impressive ensemble cast that includes The Witcher’s Maciej Musial, The Nun’s Jonas Bloquet, and Into The Badlands’ Emily Beecham.


Intergalactic

Creative Director Sharon Lock (LDN) collaborated with award-winning writer Julie Geary, director Kieron Hawkes and Tiger Aspect Productions to create the logo and titles for this original, visually impactful, futuristic show. Read more about the work our design team did on the project here.

Press

Radio Times


Press

A socially-distanced Oscars

VFX Supe, Chris Lawrence (LDN) reflects on a very different Oscars experience. Read his reaction along with other stars’ thoughts in the Hollywood Reporter. While we’re on the subject, here’s the team looking sharp at the ceremony…


Flora & Ulysses

Not all superheroes wear capes and VFX Supe, Nicolas Chevallier (MTL) is here to prove it. He chats to Art of VFX on the work the team did bringing this adorable squirrel superhero to life. Read the article here.


What we’ve been up to

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan visits Chancery Lane

Keen to retain London’s reputation as a creative powerhouse, Sadiq Khan met up with William Sargent and Alison Turner to learn more about our award-winning work and Framestore’s efforts to invest in nurturing young talent.


FMX Conference

Oh, what a week it’s been. Our first day at the conference kicked off with CD, TV Russ Dodgson (LDN) delving into His Dark Materials, followed by Lead FX TD Jimmy Leung (LDN) on the explosive effects we delivered for Project Power and MD, Krystina Wilson (CHI) on how studios can come back fighting from the pandemic.

Wednesday saw talks from Global Director of Anim Michael Eames, Anim Supes Arslan Elver & Kayn Garcia and VFX Supe Andy Kind on notorious frenemies Tom & Jerry, Joint Head of CG, IA Ahmed Gharraph and Head of Groom & CFX, IA Gabriela Ruch Salmeron on the creation of creatures and Global Head of Software VFX Manne Öhrström on a panel discussing the adoption of new practices post-pandemic.


Advanced Imaging Society featuring Alex Webster

This one happened a while back, but we just discovered that MD, Framestore Pre-production Services, Alex Webster’s talk to the Advanced Imaging Society has hit YouTube…


You’ve been [Framed]

This week we meet Stephanie Travers, a Tracker in MTL. In another life she could have been a scientist or mathematician and her dream project would entail an amalgamation of fantasy creatures, apocalyptic worlds and Stephen King. Read more about Stephanie here.


Know any talented young artists looking for their VFX career break? There’s just one week left to register for our Launchpad competition. Send them over here for more information and how to apply!


National Space Day

Today is National Space Day so we put together a quick reel to show off some of our jaw-dropping work on all things out-of-this-world.


That’s it for this week – catch you next time!