Franklyn

A fantastical, comic-bookish vision of life in a strange world

Credits

Director

Gerald McMorrow

Producer

Jeremy Thomas

Production Companies

Recorded Picture Company, Film4, UK Film Council, Hanway Films

Studios

Recorded Picture Company, Film4

Dneg VFX Supervisors

Richard Briscoe, Ryan Cook

Dneg VFX Producer

Kristopher Wright

Release Date

17th November 2009

An admirably non-formulaic drama, which manages to reconcile the opposed British film traditions of contemporary, realistic, low-key character drama with eccentric, flamboyant, Gothic fantasy. It certainly marks out McMorrow as a talent to watch.Empire

DNEG’s Work

Double Negative was honoured to work with Gerald McMorrow on his new feature, Franklyn and to help him create a lavishly ornate and visually intoxicating version of a futuristic state, Meanwhile City. Led by Double Negative’s VFX Supervisors Ryan Cook and Richard Briscoe and VFX Producer Kristopher Wright, a small team including concept artists and matte painters, Christoph Unger and Tania Richard and CG Supervisor, Guy Williams, worked on 70+ shots.

Masked vigilante, Preest, seemingly the only atheist in Meanwhile City, is on a quest for revenge against ‘The Individual’, a mysterious figure that he blames for the murder of a kidnapped girl years before. In a parallel story in contemporary London we follow the lives of a suicidal young artist, a lovelorn young man and a church pastor who comes to London in search of his missing son, a Gulf war veteran.

The film itself cost £6 million to make, so it came as no surprise that the visual effects budget was a small one! Creating such an epic city on a tiny budget was a difficult challenge. Despite this, Double Negative was able to create a beguiling, mysteriously beautiful and eclectic ‘other world’ in Meanwhile City, mainly through the use of matte paintings and 2 1/2D methods.

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