In conversation with Joel Collins, a production designer for television drama, feature films and commercials, and currently head of the department on His Dark Materials.
The winners will be revealed on Monday 22nd November, at the London Hilton on Park Lane.
By trade, he is a VFX supervisor, but is also creative director of television at the visual effects and animation studio Framestore.
What do you do as a VFX supervisor?
I’m responsible for all the visual effects in a show, which comes down to two main things: helping the production get the best creative use of their money on screen; and, during filming, ensuring the correct material is acquired to allow all the brilliant VFX artists to do their job.
When are you brought on board a production?
Dawn French is once again donning the clerical collar as The Vicar of Dibley returns with a 2020 lockdown twist.
Celebrities from reality stars to politicians, to Olympic medallists will team up to attempt to row the length of Britain in new ITV series Don’t Rock the Boat.
Russell Dodgson, Creative Director, Television, Framestore (His Dark Materials) talks about the world of VFX, including his experiences of working on the James Bond and Harry Potter franchises and the TV adaptation of His Dark Materials.
Based on the fantasy novels by Phillip Pullman, the second series of His Dark Materials introduces viewers to the magical city of Cittàgazze.
Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) has opened a path into a brand-new world and Lyra (Dafne Keen) decides to join him, desperate for a distraction from the overwhelming grief over the death of her best friend.
Once Lyra starts exploring this new abandoned city, she meets Will (Amir Wilson), a boy running from his troubled past and separated from his father.
Everyone who has ever worked in television knows that one of the essential qualities required to produce outstanding TV is the ability to collaborate.
At an RTS discussion, held in early December with key members of the production team of BBC One’s ambitious His Dark Materials, the extent to which different groups worked together to complete the series was made abundantly clear.
That was the main takeaway from an RTS question and answer session following an exclusive screening of the final episode of season one.
All five panellists emphasised how working as a team was fundamental to the show, described by one reviewer as “a riveting realisation” of Pullman’s world.
“We did a lot of talking. It’s not me alone at my desk but a lot of people working together,” explained Jack Thorne who wrote the script for His Dark Materials.
‘Rachel doesn’t let me cycle,” laughs writer Jack Thorne as I am leaving his north London home following our interview. Rachel is his wife, a comedy agent and keen cyclist herself, who laughs back: “Yes, he’d just be cycling along and have a script idea and that would be that.”
