The Rook
A new supernatural spy thriller.
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Credits
DIRECTORS
China Moo-Young, Kari Skogland, Sunu Gonera, Rebecca Johnson
PRODUCERS
Amanda Tudesco, Steve Clark-Hall, Erin Mitchell
PRODUCTION COMPANIES
Lionsgate, Character 7, Carpool Entertainment
DISTRIBUTOR
Starz
VFX SUPERVISOR
Dave Bannister
VFX PRODUCER
Rob Vassie
RELEASE DATE
30th June 2019
By all means, watch the opening episode of The Rook. It's a beautifully made, neo-noir espionage thriller.THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Synopsis
After waking up surrounded by dead bodies and no memory, Myfanwy Thomas is thrown into the world of the Checquy, a paranormal secret service where she’s a high-level operative known as a ‘Rook’ – and no one can be trusted. Watch ‘The Rook’ on Starz.
DNEG’s VFX work
As the lead vendor on ‘The Rook’, DNEG was responsible for a range of VFX throughout the series, delivering around 200 shots in total across more than 50 sequences. The majority of the work involved ‘invisible’ VFX, including set extensions, building top ups, blood additions and monitor inserts. DNEG also creatively led the manifestations of two of the main character’s ‘abilities’ as well as a sequence involving a fully CG bird whose wings are contorted by electrical currents.
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One of DNEG’s key sequences featured seven shots of a CG bird whose wings are spread out and contorted unnaturally, due to the abilities of the lead character Myfanwy. We had to ensure the bird looked photorealistic and was naturalistic in its movements. However, due to the unnatural pose it ended up in, the team built a custom rig in order to get the performance wanted. The bird was then comped into a practical cage.
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DNEG was also tasked with creating and developing the look of one of the main characters’ ‘abilities’. The character in question emits a sonic boom type shockwave, which temporarily deafens all those around her. The main challenge for this was working out how to convey an audio-based ability visually, whilst keeping it relatively subtle. We generated a pulsing effect to show the power emanating, but also displayed the effect by adding ripples and falling leaves to the nearby trees.
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Finally, DNEG developed the look of another key part of the show – chunks of ‘Fulgurite’ shards, which were fossilised remnants of the lead characters ability. Practical rocks were replaced with ones that appeared more mystical and crystalline in nature. To achieve this, we referred to the physical properties of a number of real crystals, then built a CG version of the ‘Fulgurite’ and comped sections of it onto the practical rocks, which shimmered when they moved.
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Watch the featurette below to find out more about the show.
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We all made it happen
CareersAdhikesavan Jayaraman
Albin Jose
Anagha Bharadwaj
Aravindan Chinnakkannu
Balaji Elengovan
Balasubramani Parthasarathy
Bianca-Lee Burgess
CH Kurumurthy
Charles William
Chris Elson
Chris Soper
Christina Mandia
Christopher Antoniou
Connor Kitto
D Anbukumaran
Daffy Hristova
Dan Alterman
Dan Pettipher
Daniel Nagar
Danish Rajan
Dave Bannister
David Gower
Debasree Das
Dinakaran B
Dinesh Babu S
Dineshkumar P
Divyansh Jha
Divyansh Jha
Eleanor Rogers
Felix K
G Suresh
George Palcut
Gopikrishna S
Grace Davison
Guled Ahmed
Hariharan Kumar
Harish Mothukuri
Harry Beatts
Ian Copeland
Immanuel Rajan
Jack Phillips
Jayaraj M
Jegathesan T
Jenna Barratt
Jerry George
Jonas Vonk
K Karthick Babu
Kannan R
Katie Coombs
Kauser Ahmed
Kourst Srinu
Lavanya L
M Yuvaraj
M.S.M Mirzhaa
Madhumita S G
Manohar Venkat Mushunuri
Manoj PM
Mansha Malhotra
Mark Pascoe
Mathi R
Michal Skowron
Mohinder Subramaniyam
Murughendra B
Naveen Prabhu
Ninad Joshi
Oscar Knott
P M N Mukundan
P Sai Bharath
Pavan Tella
Prabakaran A
Pratheesh Chandran
Praveenkumar S
Preetham Tej Boddu
Rajesh Sreeramula
Rakshith Gowtham K
Ramamurthy R
Ramu G
Ravi Varma Thirumalraju
Rebecca Eglinton
Rob Vassie
Rob Woiwod
Robin Konieczny
S Yashwanth
Saxson Michael
Selvamuthukumarasamy RT
Sherin Mahboob
Siva Sankar
Sivakumar Sankar
Sivilesh K V
Stafford Lawrence
Stalin G
Sujay Raj
Sule Bryan
Sunnet Kumar
Suresh Madaparthi
Sureshkumar E
Terry Tsang
Toji M J
Uma Shankari
Venkatapathi Avula
Venkatesh Kumar L
Vijay P