The Rook

A new supernatural spy thriller.

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.

The Rook Season 1 2019
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We all made it happen

Careers

Adhikesavan 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

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