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Framestore collaborates on “Jeff’s World” for Three Ireland

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Framestore Jeff's World

Team created life-like bearded dragon for the engaging advert

Framestore, the visual effects specialist, recently teamed up with director Tomas Jonsgården, Boys + Girls, and production company Ponder to create “Jeff’s World” for Three Ireland, a story that sees Jeff the bearded dragon going on an adventure while his owners are away.

“We could not have picked a better partner than Framestore for this project. The sparring of the ideas and their execution was just brilliant. Can’t wait for the next chance to collaborate on a project and perhaps that includes taking Jeff out for another spin,” says Jonsgården.  

https://youtu.be/jEi4s92e87k

To begin with, Framestore’s team, led by VFX supervisor Jules Janaud, worked closely with Jonsgården to define Jeff’s character. It was important to study how a real bearded dragon would move and act, so they put together a large amount of reference material. Following this, the team created Jeff’s features such as his scales and his soft spiky chin, as well as his distinctive jiggle, and a bespoke rig for the inside of his mouth.

To make sure that the scales were convincing, the team used a procedural system in Houdini.

Believable and comical

“It was a challenge to come up with something interesting that was real and comical. Jeff had to be believable but at the same time we needed to create something beyond the boundaries of realism,” says Janaud. 

Kris Clarkin, creative director of Boys + Girls adds: “An idea like this one lives or dies in how it is executed, so we were delighted when Framestore came on board. From day one, it felt like we had a shared vision for the project. The craft and attention-to-detail from Jules and his team was second to none. They are truly world class and it was a joy to collaborate with them on Jeff’s World.” 

Jeff's World Three Ireland Framestore

To ensure that the lighting was done right, the team brought a taxidermy bearded dragon to set for reference. It was also necessary to 3D scan each scene and capture as many references as possible so that they could reconstruct each shot environment to the highest level.

“Several shots were shot at high-speed, so it was tricky to ensure the animation felt real,” says Januad. “Lizards move in a broken up way and if you start slowing things down it doesn’t always work well visually. We had to find subtle elegant moves whilst ensuring Jeff remained looking like an authentic lizard, so we added some skin passes, such as rippled, deformation and details on the spikes to move with the wind.”

“Pure enjoyment”

Framestore’s lead animator, Daniel Bielawski, says:

“In order to illustrate Jeff’s new found lust for life we built upon his generally relaxed posture and inserted some lizard-like head looks and eye darts to emphasise the comedy. The parts that work best for me are when he’s not in control – his entire body might lose grip on the slippery vacuum cleaner surface, but he still happily bumbles through the city streets!”.

As well as the creature work, the project required many different set digital matte paintings and backgrounds with enhancements to the sky and extra skyscrapers to build a city feel.

Three_Ireland_Jeff's World_Framestore

“This type of work is a playground for VFX artists in general and it’s pure enjoyment to make something that’s fun to watch,” adds Janaud.

The grade for the spot was completed by Jean-Clément Soret at Framestore’s sister company, Company 3. 

Framestore also recently worked with Heineken to create an eye-catching billboard for the launch of the new Heineken Silver beer.

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charlotte coates

Charlotte Coates

Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.

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