Frankenstein,
ITV1 Wednesday 24th October 2007 9.00pm

Writer, Director Jed Mercurio adapted Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for this modern day, star cast version of the classic novel for ITV1. Produced by Hugh Warren for Impossible Pictures over 90 shots were created by the team at Jellyfish Pictures.

Spanning across five months of preparation, shooting and production Jellyfish’s task was to build a total CGI head replacement for many of the close up shots. This involved careful camera tracking and matching of the set lighting for a seamless integration.

A facial animation system was developed to give the creature expression that could not be gained using the prosthetic. HDRI images taken on location were then used to light the CGI model. Many layers were then generated from skin tone to wet reflection to create the required look.

A combination of Softimage XSI and in-house tools were used for the 3D. Creating a library of expressions based on reference footage of Julian Bleach playing the monster, for the animation team to call upon.
Another aspect of the work was to enhance the prosthetic for further dramatic effect and give it life. This was achieved in compositing using various warping and re-painting techniques. Due to the nature of the monsters design this also included a large amount of clean up and background restoration.

The windmill appearing in the film is also entirely CGI intergrated and composited at Jellyfish using Shake.

The Jellyfish Pictures team:
VFX Director: William Rockall
VFX Producer: Stefano Salvini
VFX Supervisor: Didier Muanza

3D Department
Matt Chandler, Christian Cheshire, Cesar Eiji Nunes, PierreYves Girard, Sam Howell, Marion Nove Josserand, Antonio Mossucca, Didier Muanza, Gemma Thomson,

2D Department
Arthur Broome, Adam Gefen, Richard Frazer, Dom Halford, Sam Meisels, Ben Perrott, John Slattery, Fabio Zaveti