Chancery Lane is a one-way street that forms part of the City of London#Boundary, western boundary of the City of London. The east side of the street is entirely within the City,[Tim Webber joined Framestore in 1988 and led the company's push into digital film and television, developing Framestore's ]virtual camera
In 3D computer graphics, 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the b ...
and motion rig systems. In 1992, Mike Milne started the CGI department, adding computer-generated imagery animation to the company's range of facilities.
Merger with CFC
In 1997, Framestore acquired the Computer Film Company, which was one of the UK's first digital film visual effects companies, developing technology for digital film scanning, compositing, and output. CFC was founded in London in 1984 by Mike Boudry, Wolfgang Lempp (now CTO at Filmlight) and Neil Harris ( Lightworks). CFC's first film was '' The Fruit Machine'', in 1988, which utilised early morphing techniques.[Rickitt, Richard (2000). ''Special Effects: The History and Technique''. London: Virgin Publishing. ]
In 2004, Framestore opened their first satellite office in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, to focus on advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
. This was followed by another office in Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
in 2008, which has since been closed and has reopened as a local VFX company, RVX. In 2013 Framestore opened an office in Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, followed by another in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
the same year. In 2014, it launched a production arm.
Early projects for the company include the delivery of its first feature animation project '' The Tale of Despereaux'' with Universal; the completion of Europe's first digital intermediate for the film '' Chicken Run'' in 2000; contribution of scenes for the 2009 film ''Avatar
Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...
'', and the completion as a production project of four British feature films which opened in theaters between during 2009 and 2010.
Acquisition by CIH
In November 2016, Framestore agreed to let the Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
-based Cultural Investment Holdings Co acquire 75% of it for £112.50 million.Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
.Method Studios
Method Studios is a visual effects company launched in 1999 in Los Angeles, California with facilities in New York, Atlanta, Vancouver, San Francisco, Melbourne, Montreal, and Pune. The company provides production and post-production services ...
and Company 3 to expand their VFX and post-production landscapes.
Reception
Framestore has been awarded two Scientific and Technical Academy Awards, and 14 Primetime Emmys. In 2008, Framestore won their first Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for the film '' The Golden Compass''; they also won the BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
Award for that film the same year. Framestore was also nominated for Academy Awards in 2009 ('' The Dark Knight'') and again in 2010 (''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallo ...
'').
Tim Webber was the VFX supervisor on ''Gravity
In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
'' (2013), and the techniques involved in the film realised by Webber and the Framestore team took three years to complete.["Tim Webber: the man who put Sandra Bullock in space"]
. Evening Standard. Retrieved 17 January 2014 The team won the Best Visual Effects awards BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects at the 67th British Academy Film Awards, and the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects award at the 86th Academy Awards.HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
/ BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
series His Dark Materials
''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), '' The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and '' The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follo ...
.
Advertising and trade characters
Framestore has collaborated with companies and advertising agencies to create trade characters, and also created an attempted photorealistic computer-generated Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...
for a Galaxy
A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...
chocolate advert. A combination of elements including body doubles, motion-capture, FACS and the rendering software Arnold were used to mimic the appearance of the actress 20 years after her death. The advert drew press attention both for the cutting-edge technology utilized and the ethical implications of using a person's likeness posthumously for commercial purposes.
Selected film and TV credits
* '' The Fruit Machine'' (1988)
* '' Walking with…'' (1999-2005)
* '' Chicken Run'' (2000)
* '' Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' (2002)
* '' Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (2004)
* '' Thunderbirds (2004)
* '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005)
* '' Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (2005)
* '' Superman Returns'' (2006)
* '' Casino Royale'' (2006)
* '' Children of Men'' (2006)
* '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' (2007)
* '' The Golden Compass'' (2007)
* '' The Dark Knight'' (2008)
* '' Quantum of Solace'' (2008)
* '' The Tale of Despereaux'' (2008)
* '' Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' (2009)
* ''Avatar
Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...
'' (2009)
* ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallo ...
'' (2010)
* '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2'' (2011)
* '' Black Mirror'' (2011-)Iron Man 3
''Iron Man 3'' is a 2013 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to ''Iron Man (2008 film), Iron Man'' (2008) an ...
'' (2013)
* ''Gravity
In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
'' (2013)
* ''RoboCop
''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...
'' (2014)
* '' Guardians of the Galaxy'' (2014)
* '' Dracula Untold'' (2014)
* ''Paddington
Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
'' (2014)
* '' Avengers: Age of Ultron'' (2015)
* ''Poltergeist
In German folklore and ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; ; or ) is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of polter ...
'' (2015)
* '' Everest'' (2015)
* '' The Martian'' (2015)
* '' Spectre'' (2015)
* ''Doctor Strange
Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...
'' (2016)His Dark Materials
''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), '' The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and '' The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follo ...
'' (2019–22)
* '' Lovecraft Country'' (2020)
* ''Mulan
Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...
'' (2020)
* '' The Midnight Sky'' (2020)
* '' No Time to Die'' (2021)
* '' Invasion'' (2021-)
* '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021)
* '' The Matrix Resurrections'' (2021)
* ''1899
Events January
* January 1
** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
'' (2022)
* '' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' (2023)
* ''Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...
'' (2023)
* '' Deadpool & Wolverine'' (2024)
* '' Paddington In Peru'' (2024)
* '' IF'' (2024)
* '' Wicked'' (2024)
* '' Thunderbolts*'' (2025)
* '' Lilo & Stitch'' (2025)
* ''How to Train Your Dragon
''How to Train Your Dragon'' is a media franchise from DreamWorks Animation and loosely based on the book series How to Train Your Dragon (novel series), of the same name by British author Cressida Cowell. It consists of three feature films: '' ...
'' (2025)
References
External links
*
YouTube page
Wired article on the company
{{Authority control
Visual effects companies
Mass media companies established in 1986
Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners
Computer animation
British animation studios
Special effects companies
Television and film post-production companies
Film production companies of the United Kingdom
1986 establishments in the United Kingdom