Academy Scientific and Technical Award
Framestore’s tech geniuses have been recognised for their unparalleled render farm work, with our much-envied FQ queuing system set to receive an Academy Scientific and Technical Award on February 24. The system dates back to 2007, and has since underpinned 120+ major projects and underpinned our rise to the international powerhouse we are today. A huge congrats to the tech team, and everyone who worked so hard to get this work recognised by AMPAS! If you want to read more about the awards, check out this Variety piece.
Congrats, Agents
Since last week’s release of Lockwood and Co., overwhelmingly positive reviews are starting to come LDN, MUM and VAN’s way. Amongst others, The Guardian praises the Netflix-hit as a ‘paranormal young adult series that is playful, intelligent and full of British charm’ and the Evening Standard describes it as ‘a spooky delight whose entertaining narrative raises just the right amount of hair on the back of the neck’. Congrats to our teams for their ghostly beautiful work! If Lockwood and Co. is not on your weekend binge-list yet then make sure to watch the making of below.
You Haven’t Seen ‘The Last Of Us’ Yet
The Last Of Us (featuring work from our LDN FPS and IA teams) has already become one of the must-watch shows of 2023 having viewers stuck to their TV screens. This week, HBO announced that the post-apocalyptic drama series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey will be officially renewed for a second season! We simply can not wait!
Finding The ‘One Piece’ Treasure
The NY and LDN IA Episodic teams have been hard at work on Netflix’s live action adaptation of beloved manga series, ‘One Piece,’ set to air this year. Check out some early teaser shots below.
Big Adventures Ahead
In Ant-icipation for ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’, Volkswagen excites Marvel fans by featuring Cassie suited up in her Ant-Girl outfit as she sneaks out of the house before getting caught by Ant-Man himself. Our LA team had a blast working alongside Director Anthony Leonardi III as they focused on the animation that brought the spot to life.
Taking Notes from Gecko
The NY team continues its longtime partnership with GEICO and The Martin Agency, placing the beloved Gecko into a series of unexpected scenarios, like captaining a spaceship, dancing on skates at a roller disco, and even scaling a Geckosaurus to 30 feet tall as he wanders the streets of suburbia. They worked their VFX magic on the Gecko animation, lighting, rendering, and compositing.
Press
IndieWire
Top Gun: Maverick VFX Supervisor, Ryan Tudhope, sat down with IndieWire and revealed how his team mastered the art of creating invisible effects. “We always set out to do very seamless, invisible work that people wouldn’t even talk about or think about,” Tudhope shared with IndieWire. Read the full article here.
Broadcast
His Dark Materials lands the cover of UK television trade Broadcast magazine, with a special feature on the show’s third and final season. Overall VFX Supervisor Russ Dodgson is key to the piece, stating that the show has “set the bar for nuanced, character-based creature work” and that it has “pushed the scale for UK-generated fantasy shows.”
You can read the full piece below.
Metro
His Dark Materials VFX Supervisor Russell Dodgson is back in the Metro, this time dissecting the design of the harpies (beware: spoilers ahead!). Read more here.
Animation World Network
Animation World Network spoke to Connor Ling, Virtual Production Lead and Freddy Salazar, Head of Virtual Art Department about the role virtual production and Unreal had to play in the creation of the epic 1899.
Shots
McDonalds ‘Raise Your Arches‘ was included in the Shots ‘Best of January’ showcase. Congrats to the team! If you haven’t seen the spot yet then make your to take a look here.
In other news
Lunar New Year Celebrations in VAN
Last Friday, VAN celebrated the Lunar New Year at their Social Friday. The studio enjoyed a game of ‘Sip and Sketch’ where participants were challenged to draw two random words. This week’s challenge was ‘Talented Dog’ and we had a range of creative interpretations. A huge congratulations to Simon Lam for winning the competition with his Robo-Dog sketch. Until the next round of Sip’ and Sketch!
High-Tea, Ladies and Gentleman
The VAN studio enjoyed High-Tea this past Thursday which was a nice way to break up the day and indulge in hot drinks and treats with teammates.
Lunar New Year Celebrations in MTL
On the first Beer Friday of the year, MTL hosted a Lunar-themed party, and it was packed!
Framestore Podcast
This week’s special guest is Matt Hughes, Global Head of Modelling, and one of the first guests to discuss the craft of people management and leadership. He is joined by co-host Debra Coleman, an accredited Business and Personal Coach with a proven background in leadership, coaching and mentoring. Listen to both episodes on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
You’re all caught up – see you next week!
