HIS DARK MATERIALS: process

Production: Bad Wolf

Broadcaster: BBC / HBO
Series Production Designer: Joel Collins
VFX Art Director & Previs Supervisor: Dan May

 Based on the trilogy
‘His Dark Materials’ by Philip Pullman

The studio has recently had the privilege of working with company co-founders Joel Collins and Dan May on the epic BBC / HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials.

A show of this magnitude in it’s design and visual effects relies heavily on detailed planning and creative problem solving. Much of this comes in the form of Pre Vis, Post Vis and Virtual Production.

Lead by the show’s VFX Art Director and Pre Vis supervisor Dan May, we employed our unique studio workflow covering all of the above, in the development of major set pieces, and key scenes from beginning to end.

In the early stages of pre-production, we worked with series designer Joel Collins on detailed concept art for sets, environments, set extensions, and props.

Following this, most key scenes needed some form of previs or animatic. Not only did this help the directors and DOP plan ahead, the previs stage supported major physical and budgetary decision making for the designer and VFX departments - such as what elements would be built, and what would be made in CG.

During this crucial PRE VIS stage, Plan V has been an invaluable tool for planning complex set pieces.

Action scenes, large worlds, and creature heavy moments have been visualised in virtual 3D, allowing directors to plan shots, and the art department to plan their build.

Following the shoot, we entered the POST VIS stage.

This involved comping rough scenes together, of principle photography with our concepts and designs. Once these were approved, we turned over a well planned set of assets and pre visualised scenes to Framestore for final VFX work.

These assets and plans include matte paintings, set extension, 3D models, textures, graphics, and art direction.

Below are a handful of scenes which show some of this process. And don’t forget to visit our PLAN V page for more details on this essential tool in virtual production.