Challenge

After collaborating with The 2D Workshop on series 13 of Doctor Who in 2021, they invited me back for some visual effects work on the Netflix docu-drama Blood, Sex & Royalty (produced by Nutopia), with the additional challenge of helping them figure out how to integrate into the production’s ACES pipeline.

Outcome

Intense research and testing to level up my own colour workflow and create a clean ACES pipeline through After Effects, as well as delivering around 10 4K shots for the production.

My work mostly involved the removal of anachronistic objects and architecture, compositing matte-painted set extensions and correcting the colour of the castle walls.

This shot in particular became a far bigger challenge than anyone anticipated:

Since much of what we needed to remove in the background was behind fine-detailed trees and reeds, myself and the team at The 2D Workshop had to come up with a solution that would allow us to complete the shot on time and within budget.

The resulting idea was to composite in additional trees to hide some of the modern buildings in the background, with the rest being a matte painting. I sourced tree assets that visually matched the existing trees in the plate, both in terms of variety and lighting conditions, and comped them into the shot.

Carefully removing the existing tower from behind a tree was also a challenge, as well as ensuring the sky retained all its HDR detail no matter what the exposure.

There are many ways to tackle any given visual effects shot, and I work with my clients to find the solution that best fits them.

Being given Anne Boleyn’s execution was not only a privilege to put my mark on something that’s been recreated many times on film, it was also incredibly sobering knowing the very real injustice of this historic moment.

For obvious safety reasons, you can’t be swinging a sword at an actor’s neck! There are multiple ways you could achieve this, using a half-sword prop for example and digitally completing it in visual effects. In this instance, the two were shot on separate plates under exactly the same lighting conditions with a locked-off camera. It’s simple, effective solution that looks 100% realistic for a highly emotional scene that cannot be undermined by wonky visual effects.

I was then tasked with combining the two performances. I took a little extra time to create a shadow of the sword on her shoulder as it swings closer, it’s a small detail but it goes a long way to bring the two plates together.

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