Franklyn

DNEG 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 DNEG’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, DNEG was able to create a beguiling, mysteriously beautiful and eclectic ‘other world’ in Meanwhile City, mainly through the use of matte paintings and 2.5D methods.