UK Studio Outpost Provides VFX For Netflix’s iBoy
Bournemouth, UK-based VFX studio Outpost is the sole provider of VFX for the Wigwam Films/Neftlix project, iBoy, directed by Adam Randall and based on the Kevin Brooks novel.
The film, starring Bill Milner, Maisie Williams, Rory Kinnear and Miranda Richardson, is the story of 16 year old Tom, who awakens from a coma to discover that fragments of his smart phone have embedded in his brain, giving him superhero powers.
Outpost provided all 150 shots, the vast amount of which were coined "iVision," which is how the protagonist connects with and manipulates technology. These shots consisted of motion graphic elements that were composited in Nuke. The work also involved numerous digital matte paintings in and around London, green screen window replacements, SFX enhancement and basic cleanup/wire removal/crew removal.
Outpost VFX supervisor David Sadler-Coppard was running this project and on set throughout, working closely with director Randall. All 150 shots were turned around in seven weeks—a tight timeframe to design, animate and comp all the iVision shots as well as a big CG superpower and the entire title sequence. iBoy has been made globally available to watch on Netflix.
In the past year Outpost has provided VFX for a slate of feature films including; Jason Bourne (Universal), My Beautiful Broken Brain (Netflix), and Under The Shadow (Wigwam Films). The studio is currently providing VFX on: Salty (Salty Films), Final Score (Signature Entertainment) and Interlude in Prague (Stillking Films).
MPC’s Valdez Wins Oscar For The Jungle Book
MPC VFX supervisor Adam Valdez was honored at the 89th Academy Awards® for the studio’s innovative work on Disney’s The Jungle Book, winning the Oscar for Visual Effects.
Valdez accepted the award on behalf of MPC’s team of more than 800 artists, production and technologists based in London, Los Angeles and Bangalore, who worked on The Jungle Book for two years.
As lead VFX studio, MPC had its artists build a complex photo-real world creating The Jungle Book’s stunning CG environments and bringing the film’s iconic animal characters to life. Best friend Baloo the bear, Mowgli’s wolf family, Bagheera the panther, Kaa the python, and the villainous tiger Shere Khan would be built bone, skin, hair and whisker. 54 species of animals and 224 unique animals were created and new computer programs were made to better simulate muscles, skin and fur.
Valdez said on Oscar night, "This is a very proud day for me and my crew at MPC. I speak for everyone who was lucky enough to work with Jon Favreau and the great team at Disney when I say how grateful we are for this honor from the Academy. Taking part in making a great film is a rare gift. Being recognized for our craft is deeply gratifying."
The movie—with its single live actor in a totally digital environment—brought unprecedented challenges. MPC met these challenges by marshaling its resources—including parent company Technicolor and their color pipeline and finishing artists—in new ways. MPC and Technicolor have a long history of building large-scale productions across many networks. Utilizing all the resources they’ve been building over the past several years for this project, they were able to put that technology at the service of the storyteller.
This is the second Oscar awarded to MPC for VFX, the first for its contributions to Life of Pi in 2013, as well as receiving nine prior nominations.
