Want to learn how the visual effects maestros managed to double Jesse Eisenberg
Earlier in the year, Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, which swept the boards this year’s Oscars, sparked some controversy in the film industry with an outcry over it being dubbed a British film by BAFTA when it was entered into the 2014 Awards in the Best British Feature category. The reason for this decision was complex, but in part the choice was down to the tremendous special effects work that was done by the creative and smart effects artists at Framestore, located in London.
Located in the heart of Soho, the unassuming building houses a wide array of designers, editors and effects artists, who set about creating dazzling special effects. Last week though their work could be seen on the big screen once again in The Double, the sophomore feature of Richard Ayoade.
This dystopian tale, loosely based on Dostoevsky’s novella, stars Jesse Eisenberg as the downtrodden Simon James, an office working trapped in on the mill of data processing drudgery. His life is a series of meaningless turnings of the wheel, with the only bright light being the photocopy girl, Hannah (Mia Wasikowska), who barely acknowledges his existence. Then one day he finds himself stalked by his doppelganger, James Simon (Also played by Eisenberg, and enter the folks at Framestore), a gregarious go-getter with a penchant for always getting what he wants.
Framestore has a long history with Richard Ayoade as Executive producer Simon Whalley explains: “My relationship with Richard began about 10 years ago when he was doing TV show Garth Marenghi, which we edited here. After it came out we were starting to do DVD’s for Dark Place, and simultaneously we were doing Man To Man With Dean Learner for TV. I started working with Richard and he is a very cool talented guy and we felt we had a lot in common and could understand each other. He started to do pop promos and we grew up with him and carried on being his go to team. We did the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s video and Artic Monkeys. “
After working on the TV shows the team at Framestore also worked on Ayoade’s first feature Submarine (2010). For this, they had to create the retro aesthetic of the film. Taking the digital shots transferring or “bumping,” them to VHS and then back into digital, created this grainy effect.
