The Bone Collector is a tense, dark thriller directed by Phillip Noyce. Set in New York City, The Bone Collector stars Denzel Washington as a brilliant paraplegic ex-police detective and Angelina Jolie as a young officer. The pair find themselves teamed together in a desperate hunt for a sadistic and ingenious serial killer.

Senior figures on The Bone Collector's production team found that choosing a digital effects facility for their movie was a relatively simple process. The Director (Phillip Noyce), the Producer (Lou Stroller) and the Visual Effects Supervisor (Robert Grasmere) had all collaborated with Framestore CFC on other projects. "We all felt very pleased with our previous experiences at Framestore CFC," says Grasmere, "And it felt great to be coming back for this project."

With over 130 shots, from blue-screen car rides, through major alteration of some scenes' weather, to the creation of 3D digital animals, Framestore CFC needed to provide effects that blended seamlessly with the movie's gritty realism.

The degree to which this was achieved was illustrated at a preview press screening. Director Phillip Noyce spoke with a large group of industry journalists afterwards. "None of them was aware that there were any digital effects in the movie." he recalls, "Which I think speaks volumes for Framestore CFC's work."

An early sequence features the kidnapping by the killer of a couple newly arrived at the City's airport. Shot on blue-screen, the sequence was tracked, graded and composited by Visual Effects Designer, Tom Debenham. "There were sound economic reasons for doing it this way," says Debenham, "But using blue-screen also gave the production team the opportunity to manipulate elements such as the reflections in the cab window, helping them to build an escalating sense of claustrophobia and panic."

During one striking scene, one of the killer's victims wakes up to find himself tied up in a subterranean tunnel, his only companions a pack of very hungry rats. Trained domestic rats simply lack the ferocity, both in appearance and behaviour. Framestore CFC's Head of Film Animation, Dominic Parker, and his team set about building a nastier rat. Using Houdini and Renderman, the results are spectacular, with a huge, matted, befanged creature hurling itself towards the camera.