Multi-Oscar-winning creative studio Framestore marks 2020 with the launch of FPS (Framestore Pre-production Services) for the global film and content production industries. This will expand and enhance Framestore’s existing capability, promising clients adaptability and flexibility whether they need standalone pre-production support or a seamless end-to-end production solution. (In photo L to R: Tim Webber, chief creative officer; Fiona Walkinshaw, global managing director, film; Alex Webster, managing director, preproduction services.)
The move sees the company’s previs, virtual production, techvis and postvis services built out and aligned with Framestore’s renowned Art Department (which operates either as part of the Framestore workflow or as a standalone creative service), virtual production team and R&D unit, and integrated with the company’s renowned VFX and animation teams. The move builds on paradigm-changing work on films such as Gravity and the knowledge gained during the company’s highly successful eight-year London joint venture with visualization company The Third Floor. FPS is currently working on feature film projects as part of an integrated offering and also as a standalone visualization partner, with more projects slated in the coming months.
The new team is led by Alex Webster, who joins as MD, Pre-production Services from running The Third Floor, London. He will report directly to Fiona Walkinshaw, Framestore’s Global Managing Director, Film.
“This work aligns Framestore’s singular VFX and animation craft with a granular understanding of the visualization industry,” says Webster. “It marries the company’s extraordinary legacy in VFX with established visualization and emergent virtual production processes, supported by bleeding edge technology and dedicated R&D resource to inform the nimble approach which our clients need. Consolidating our pre-production services represents a significant creative step forward, and one that will see us bring new people, skills and ideas to Framestore and its clients.”
This is a natural evolution for a company that prides itself on deep-level understanding of the filmmaking process, and will allow for even greater collaboration between Framestore and its creative partners. “Pre-production is a crucial stage for filmmakers,” says Chief Creative Officer Tim Webber. “From mapping out environments, to developing creatures and characters, to helping plot action sequences it provides unparalleled freedom in terms of seeing how a story unfolds or how characters interact with the worlds we create.
“Bringing together our technical innovation with an understanding of filmmaking we want to offer a bespoke service for each film and each individual to help tell compelling, carefully-crafted stories.”
Framestore is leading developments across the content production landscape, and is renowned for its commitment to creative, innovative storytelling across film (Avengers: Endgame; Blade Runner 2049, Gravity), TV (
His Dark Materials; Watchmen) and immersive entertainment (Lionsgate Entertainment World, the 'Field Trip to Mars' group virtual reality experience).
“Our clients’ needs are as varied as the projects they bring to us, with some needing a start-to-finish service that begins with concept art and ends in post while others want a bespoke, standalone solution to specific creative challenges, be that in early stage concepting, through layout and visualization or in final animation and VFX,” says Framestore CEO Sir William Sargent
. “It makes sense to bring all these services in-house – even more so when you consider how our work in adjacent fields like AR, VR and MR has helped the likes of HBO, Marvel and Warner Bros. bring their IP to new, immersive platforms. What we’ll ultimately deliver goes well beyond previs and beyond visualization. Plans of this scope, scale and ambition mean significant investment, but given that we’ve made our name being adaptable, innovative and attuned to industry needs it’s a logical, necessary next step for our clients and for Framestore.”