Blade Runner 2049

Framestore was thrilled to be creatively involved in the production of the long-awaited Blade Runner 2049; crafting concept artwork used in pre-production, and delivering nearly 300 shots of VFX work in post. Tasked with the creation of large-scale CG environment builds and some challenging animation work, Framestore teamed up with VFX Supervisor John Nelson to pay homage to the original picture, whilst creating an atmospheric film of the future.

Concept Design

Performance Capture

Animation

Environments

Effects Simulation

Digital Humans

Creature Design/Art Department

Animation Supervisor

Visual Effects Supervisor

Awards

Blade Runner 2049

Academy Award for Best VFX

2018

Blade Runner 2049

BAFTA for Best Special Visual Effects

2018

Blade Runner 2049

VES for Best VFX

2018

- Nominated

Blade Runner 2049 - Trash Mesa

VES for Best Created Environment

2018

- Nominated

Blade Runner 2049 - Las Vegas

VES for Best Created Environment

2018

- Nominated

Blade Runner 2049

AEAF for Best VFX

2018

- Nominated

Denis was a joy to work with. He likes to explore all options for storytelling in visual effects, so it was very collaborative.

Richard Hoover

VFX Supervisor

Trash Mesa

K journeys to Trash Mesa, an area south of Los Angeles, in the flying spinner vehicle; resurrected and updated from the original film. Framestore modeled K’s spinner from reference of the full-scale prop and generated cloudy atmospheres layered with rainfall and the elongated shape of an Off-world ship emerging from fog. The production built a backlot set in Hungary with a wood scaffold construction, covered with dirt, varieties of trash and scrap metal and backed by greenscreen. Framestore generated K’s spinner car descending over the complex environment, made up of approximately 670 assets. ‘One of the biggest challenges with Trash Mesa was the sheer amount of assets we had to manage along with per shot changes to the environment required to meet Denis’ vision.’ says CG Supervisor, Adrien Saint Girons.

Photographs and aerial footage of Bangladesh were used as reference to build a beach with shipwrecked tanker ships. Framestore’s VFX Supervisor Richard Hoover was on the shoot before overseeing the post production, which saw builds of derelict ships in various degrees of dismantlement and giant flying garbage ships. ‘We built those from concept art as CG models, textured and animated with lights and effects simulations as the doors opened and trash fell out of the vehicles’, explains Hoover.

Our CG department produced, what I think, are the most beautiful environments we’ve ever worked on at Framestore.

Luigi Santoro

Compositing Supervisor

Futuristic Vegas

K’s (Ryan Gosling) quest takes him to a futuristic Las Vegas. Framestore’s Art Department produced an array of concepts based on the work of artist Syd Mead, turning Vegas into a deserted, post-apocalyptic version of the city. ‘Roger dictated the look of the Vegas sequence by how he shot the plates on stage,’ explains Hoover. ‘He provided one photo reference for how the sun should appear through the sand storm atmosphere. With both Denis and Roger, we often discussed how far we should see into the distance. There was a very fine line between creating depth in the shots and only allowing the audience to get a hint of what was out there.’

cg animation process of agent k walking through orange post apocalyptic grounds amongst gigiantic sculptures of women

agent k walking through giant sculptures in an orange atmosphere

With the concept material at hand, the Montréal-based VFX team was able to approach the complex modelling of the CG environment build early on. ‘We went with the approach of building from the ground up’, explains Saint Girons. ‘We had three phases for each building in the environment: blocking, adding more overall detail, and a full beauty makeover if it was needed in a close-up.’ Hundreds of assets were built to dress the set. A balance was struck between realising Villeneuve’s desire to keep the space relatively simple and empty, whilst also adding a sense of history to the once-populated, busy hub of entertainment.

agent k walking through beehives in orange sandy dust

The sequences are completely bathed in a vivid, burnt orange colour which was a major challenge. ‘The extremely orange and hazy environment is not something that people are used to seeing’, says Saint Girons. ‘The plates of K walking in, in the deeper fog, literally had no information on the blue channel.’ Compositing Supervisor Luigi Santoro pioneered the use of rendering the shots with lens distortion to complement the pin-sharp photography of Deakins. ‘We wanted to make people’s jaws drop’, says Santoro. The overall look of the environments were based on references of the Sydney sandstorm of 2009.

Despite the effect being very subtle in the end, it was technically one of the most complicated effects to create.

ADRIEN SAINT GIRONS

CG SUPERVISOR

Joi

Joi (Ana de Armas) is a hologram - a fact often forgotten by the audience, as she showcases profound human qualities. In certain shots a shell effect is applied, meaning a digital version of Joi is used to render the back of her yellow raincoat, so that the audience can read her other side when she has her back to camera. ‘Denis didn’t want her to come across as a hologram, but there are moments where it was important to remind us that she is, so you get a little bit of the shell effect come through’, explains Saint Girons. In order to achieve this, the team had to track her body as close as possible and sculpt her CG jacket per shot to match the plate jacket.

Framestore’s VFX team of 175 people worked across nine sequences, which included the creation of several CG spinner cars, whilst the Art Department created concepts of key environments and assets used by all of the VFX studios.

cg animation process of joi composited over ana de armas

actress ana de armas as joi sitting in the passenger seat as she starts becoming pixelated

At one point in the movie, she bugs. ‘When K’s spinner is struck by lightning Joi is affected’, explains Hoover. ‘When they crash, she’s afraid that K is dead. It was important to depict her attachment to K as her systems were failing. She tries to save K, but she can’t touch him or pull him from the wreckage. It was an emotional scene.’ A voxelise effect was used, in which her geometry becomes a simplified version made up of pixelated voxels to create the ‘glitching’ look.

joi looking at officer k as she becomes pixelated

An elegant continuation of a science fiction classic, Framestore’s VFX work was undertaken at its Montréal hub. ‘It was exciting and gratifying to work within the Montréal facility’, says Saint Girons. ‘Denis Villeneuve is from Quebec, which made the team feel like this was more of local project. It was nice to be able to have direct contact with him and engage on a creative level. I think just the fact that people were working on a Blade Runner had everyone really excited right until the end.’