Is
it still possible to communicate the incredible
excitement and promise of space exploration? This
is the challenge faced – and triumphantly
answered – by Space Odyssey: Voyage to
the Planets, a new two-part drama-documentary
devised and produced by Impossible Pictures for
BBC1. The two hour-long episodes, narrated by David
Suchet and directed by Joe Ahearne, will air on
BBC1 at 9pm on November 9th and 16th. The digital
visual effects were created by Framestore CFC.
It's the same teaming of production talent and VFX
artistry responsible for the ‘Walking With…'
series and specials, seen by millions of viewers
around the world since the series began in 1999.
As Joanna Nodwell, Framestore CFC Producer on Space
Odyssey, notes, "In previous collaborations
with Impossible Pictures, we had placed CG creatures
in real environments. Here we faced the challenge
of creating CG spacecraft and environments, as well
as the physical phenomena that the astronauts encounter.
It is also a drama-documentary - very different
from the natural history style we were used to."
Fantastic Voyage
Over two hours, Space Odyssey takes us
on an extraordinary voyage of discovery. It follows
an international team of five astronauts on an imaginary
near-future tour of our galactic neighbourhood.
Their 6-year journey aboard Pegasus –
the 1 kilometre long mothership - takes them from
as close to the centre of the solar system as it's
possible to get, to its remotest regions. Their
trek encompasses landings on the surface of three
planets and a moon, as well as close encounters
with asteroids, comets and the rings of Saturn.
Location shoots in Chile in September 2003 provided
some of the raw material for the Venus and Mars
environments. Other surface locations were created
in the studio at Pinewood, and further sequences
– of the earthbound end of the project - were
shot at the European Space Agency in their actual
Mission Control rooms. Crucial zero gravity shots
of the astronauts floating around the craft were
filmed during a parabolic flight in Moscow. VFX
Supervisor Tim Greenwood oversaw the flight, going
up with the cast and crew in an aeroplane that had
been rigged up with a large green screen so that
Framestore CFC could comp in the appropriate backgrounds.
Greenwood, along with colleague George Roper, supervised
all the location shoots, as well as being responsible
for compositing the finished work.
Super Models
If Space Odyssey represents a
major departure for the Framestore CFC team, it
was one that initially fooled them. "We thought
we were in for an easier time," says Mike Milne,
Head of Computer Animation, with a rueful chuckle,
"We were wrong. The animation for the rigid bodied
elements is, naturally, easier; but their construction
was not – the level of detail needed was incredible.
To give you a sense of the scale of the team's achievement,
it took 235 man-days for the team to create Pegasus
alone, never mind all the ancillary craft and other
elements."
"Pegasus is a 1 km long spaceship designed to support
5 people for at least 6 years," says Sarah Tosh,
Senior Modeller on the project, who led the core
team of four modellers, "It also has to carry several
different landing craft, as well as a host of scientific
equipment, laboratories, fuel and so on. Using what
was essentially a napkin sketch that NASA had come
up with in the 1970s, specialist consultant Dr.
David Baker and advisers from EADS (European Aeronautic
Defence and Space) produced a conceptual plan of
an interplanetary spacecraft. Our CG modellers then
designed and constructed the full CG model of Pegasus."
Senior Technical Directors, Darren Byford, Adam
Burnett and Theo Facey, surmounted a huge range
of challenges as they worked to build, envelope
and light the craft. "Some of the shots at the very
end were logistical nightmares," recalls Byford,
Supervising TD, "You had 3D rocks, 2 ½ D
rocks, matte painting in the background, up to 8
layers of Pegasus that had to be rendered individually
and built up, you had the astronauts, the lander…
It was a much more complex weave of elements than
the dinosaur shots tended to be – a much richer
CG environment."
Happy Landings
Without giving the game away about the dramas that
unfold on the various planets visited, it's safe
to say that the environments the astronauts encounter
can be incredibly hostile to human life. Michael
Davis, Space Odyssey's Line Producer at
Framestore CFC, elaborates, "Venus has a thick,
heavy atmosphere – visibility was described
to us as being ‘like looking through water',
so we applied various treatments to the footage.
Mars, on the other hand, is much more like Earth.
There it was big sky replacements and the grade
needed to be very strong."
Mars also featured some striking CG work. The astronauts
are ambushed by a dust-devil, or whirlwind, which
turns out to be surprisingly innocuous. It was created
by Jamie Isles who, working in Maya using volumetric
particles, created multiple swirling layers of the
Martian vortex.
Another key figure in the creation of the planetary
backgrounds was Jason Horley, leader of a group
of matte artists whose job it was to paint these
planets into being. As the project moved from the
initial conception of 3D textured and rendered terrains
toward the 2D and 2 ½ D solutions that were
finally adopted, Horley found that the matte schedule
had grown from 12 to some 350. In addition, Horley
and the team created over 70 digital illustrations
that were used in the BBC book that accompanies
the series.
Beyond the Stars
For
the Framestore CFC team, Space Odyssey
was an opportunity to push themselves – technically
and artistically – in directions they'd never
gone in before. And the future? More (and different)
dinosaurs will undoubtedly be lumbering across our
screens, and another Odyssey is already
being planned. Mike Milne sums up the company's
ongoing relationship with Impossible Pictures thus,
"Tim Haines and I have an understanding and a trust
– and when he comes up with a new direction,
we at Framestore CFC are quite prepared to follow,
because he's been right in the past."
Space
Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets is an Impossible
Pictures Production for BBC Television
Produced
By Christopher Riley
Directed By Joe Aherne
Executive Producer Tim Haines
Associate Producer Duncan Copp
Executive Producer for the BBC
Adam Kemp
Framestore CFC
Executive Producer Of Computer Animation
Fiona Walkinshaw
Director of Computer Animation
Mike Milne
CGI Modelling Sarah Tosh, Jon Veal,
Oliver Cook, Romain Segurado, Stuart Penn, Jenny
Bichsel
CGI Scanning Sean Varney, Guy Hauldren
Animators Pete Clayton, Simon Clarke,
Stephen Endicott, Stuart Ellis, James Farrington
Technical Directors Darren Byford,
Theo Facey, Adam Burnett, Jamie Isles, Nigel Rafter,
Angela King, Chi-Kwong Lo, Henriette Plum, Jenny
Bichsel, Edmund Kollen, Chris Thomas, Duncan Robson,
Frederic Cervini, Alfie Oliver, Martin Macrae
Research & Development James
Studdart, Eugenie Von Tunzelmann
Digital Paint Artists Jason Horley,
Nathan Hughes, Danny Geurtsen, Virginie Degorgue,
Daren Horley, Elsa Santos
Visual Effects Supervisors Tim
Greenwood, George Roper
Digital Effects Artists Sirio Quintavalle,
Nick Seal, Darran Nicholson, Christian Manz, Pedro
Sabrosa
Producer Joanna Nodwell
Line Producer Michael Davis
Production Co-ordinator Sophia Dixon
Visual Effects Editor Tom Parker
Colourist Matt Turner
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