Framestore is to expand its pre production capability with the launch of FPS – Framestore Pre-production Services.
The move sees the company’s previs, virtual production, techvis and postvis services built out and aligned with Framestore’s Art Department (which operates either as part of the Framestore workflow or as a standalone creative service), virtual production team and R&D unit, and integrated with the company’s VFX and animation teams.
The move builds on work on films such as Gravity and the knowledge gained during the company’s eight-year London joint venture with visualisation company The Third Floor. FPS is currently working on feature film projects as part of an integrated offering and also as a standalone visualisation partner, with more projects slated in the coming months.
The new team is led by Alex Webster, who joins as MD, Pre-production Services from running The Third Floor, London. He will report directly to Fiona Walkinshaw, Framestore’s Global Managing Director, Film.
“This work aligns Framestore’s singular VFX and animation craft with a granular understanding of the visualisation industry,” says Webster. “It marries the company’s extraordinary legacy in VFX with established visualisation and emergent virtual production processes, supported by bleeding edge technology and dedicated R&D resource to inform the nimble approach which our clients need. Consolidating our pre-production services represents a significant creative step forward, and one that will see us bring new people, skills and ideas to Framestore and its clients.”
“Pre-production is a crucial stage for film-makers,” says Chief Creative Officer Tim Webber. “From mapping out environments, to developing creatures and characters, to helping plot action sequences it provides unparalleled freedom in terms of seeing how a story unfolds or how characters interact with the worlds we create.
“Bringing together our technical innovation with an understanding of film-making we want to offer a bespoke service for each film and each individual to help tell compelling, carefully-crafted stories.”
“Our clients’ needs are as varied as the projects they bring to us, with some needing a start-to-finish service that begins with concept art and ends in post while others want a bespoke, standalone solution to specific creative challenges, be that in early stage concepting, through layout and visualisation or in final animation and VFX” says Framestore CEO Sir William Sargent. “It makes sense to bring all these services in-house – even more so when you consider how our work in adjacent fields like AR, VR and MR has helped the likes of HBO, Marvel and Warner Bros. bring their IP to new, immersive platforms. What we’ll ultimately deliver goes well beyond previs and beyond visualisation. Plans of this scope, scale and ambition mean significant investment, but given that we’ve made our name being adaptable, innovative and attuned to industry needs it’s a logical, necessary next step for our clients and for Framestore.”
Jon Creamer
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