Amid the glitz and glamour of the Oscars, the Visual Effects award is rarely high profile. Not this year. Coming soon after the collapse of Technicolor, which cost thousands of jobs globally, the future of the VFX industry was under scrutiny.
Each of the six episodes will tell the story of one specific dinosaur as its fossil remains are uncovered in the present day. Just like the original 1999 series, the new show will combine the cutting edge of both palaeontology and visual effects to tell the story of Earth’s mightiest animals.
TV production is always evolving, with technological advancements creating new roles and opportunities to explore. Our panel of experts discuss the growing impact of Virtual Production, the overlap between traditional production and VFX, and the new careers and specialisms emerging in this exciting new sector.
Panellists: Micheal McKenna - CEO, Final Pixel
Ana Sabolic - Senior Environmental Artist, Final Pixel
Jonathan Privett - VFX Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic
Hannah Smith - Texture Artist, Industrial Light & Magic
RTS London heard how the visual effects were created for The Crown over six series of the landmark Netflix drama – everything from recreating Buckingham Palace to real-life incidents such as the death of Princess Diana in Paris, the Aberfan disaster and the fire at Windsor Castle.
“[As] a historical drama, there are things that we have to… recreate, so we needed visual effects to be able to bring those stories to life,” explained Reece Ewing, VFX (visual effects) producer and post-production supervisor, who joined the drama in series three.
An RTS Futures panel shares tips on how to get ahead in Motion Graphics and VFX.
Emma Kolasinska, Sergio Rincón and Michael Vodden discuss how they got their first jobs in Motion Graphics and VFX, and what the path of progression within the industry looks like.
Emma Kolasinska, an executive producer at Moonraker VFX who recently worked on Netflix wildlife series Night on Earth, started out as a receptionist at an editing facility, before moving into producing. The key to getting on, she said, is “working hard, not pretending to know everything but finding out quite quickly”.
Junior compositor Michael Vodden said: “Take opportunities and run with them – you never know where [they will lead]… a job can come out of everywhere.”
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.
John Rowe, the National Film and Television School's Head of Digital FX, shares some top tips for forging a successful career in the creative industries as a VFX artist.
From walking corpses to stone statues, what methods were used to create such legendary creatures?
Find out in our list of TV's scariest monsters.
