Impossible Animals
The creation of hand crafted visualisations to explain the complex science behind the animals physiology and behaviours.
Attenborough and the…
Presented by Sir David Attenborough, three individual one hour BBC specials have seen him tell the story of the largest animal to ever walk the Earth in ‘Attenborough And The Giant Dinosaur’, piece together the remarkable discovery of a fearsome fish lizard that lived during the age of dinosaurs in ‘Attenborough And The Sea Dragon’ and join archaeologists to discover whether Neanderthals might have killed the Ice Age beasts in ‘Attenborough And The Mammoth Graveyard’.
Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard
An amateur fossil hunting couple discovered a huge fossilised mammoth leg bone in the old prehistoric riverbed of the Thames, which started Sir David’s journey with biologist Prof. Ben Garrod to explore whether Neanderthals might have killed the Ice Age beast.
Our designed visual effects covered multiple graphic and explanatory sequences within the films. From precise visualisations of the dig site and its history, timelapse illustrating the passing of hundreds of thousands of years, to accurate photo real VFX of mammoths composited into filmed plates depicting life in the Ice Age. The design, both graphic and VFX based, needed a particularly coherent and unique styling to reflect the films personal and intimate journey.
Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur
We travelled with Sir David and the BBC production team on location to the discovery site in a remote region of Patagonia.
Our role was to design and direct the scenes with Sir David. Creating all aspects of the VFX work, placing him with the scientific representation and animated depiction of the Titanosaur. Each element of the dinosaurs anatomy was sculpted, animated and composited into the specially shot live action scenes.
Working with some of the world’s leading palaeontologists and zoologists it was important to create a scientifically accurate working anatomical CGI model of the long extinct dinosaur.
The design and artistic representation for scientific explanations was developed from the principle concept of presenting the dinosaur in an ethereal form; a stylised apparition. This solution blended the essential components of the film; the forensic, reconstructive journey of piecing together the skeleton, from the initial discovery and excavation, to the final presentation by Sir David.
Attenborough and the Sea Dragon
Sir David brings the story of an ancient creature to life as he studies an extraordinary 200 million year old fossil of an Ichthyosaur that has been trapped high within crumbling cliffs in Dorset.
Along with the films branding and art direction, we also created detailed VFX with CGI representation of the Ichthyosaur and Temnodontosaurus. Each began with a precise and meticulous build, rig and texturing process to create an accurate animating CGI model that utilised the latest research, scanned fossil data and builds from leading scientists. Our art direction and designed VFX sequences weaved seamlessly into the detective story.
Related projects
All projects
Seven Worlds One Planet
An entirely new way to look at our planet.
