Framestore Rockets to Animation Success

Framestore was proud to take home the Outstanding Animated Character In A Photoreal Feature award for its work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 at last night’s prestigious VES awards ceremony. 

Voted for by global industry experts, the VES Awards highlight the best in creativity and innovation across VFX. This marks the second peer-voted accolade for the studio’s work on Rocket Raccoon, following last week’s Annie Awards win. 

Fiona Walkinshaw, Framestore’s chief executive officer, film and episodic, said, “Rocket Raccoon is a true cinematic icon, and it’s a real point of pride that we were able to work with James Gunn on bringing him to life from the very beginning.

“Our work on Rocket epitomises our approach to creature and character animation as a studio: emotional, nuanced and so good that audiences feel genuinely invested in their stories. A huge congratulations to every artist, producer and technologist whose work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has helped reframe VFX animation as an artform, and to the teams behind the five film and episodic projects who were also nominated for their outstanding work.” 

Framestore’s London, Montreal, Vancouver and Mumbai studios delivered some 1200 shots for the final Guardians of the Galaxy instalment. Character animation was core to Framestore’s work, with the teams working on de facto star Rocket Raccoon (conjuring him at various points of his story, and translating Sean Gunn’s performance and Bradley Cooper’s emotionally devastating vocals), Cosmo, Groot, Lylla, Teefs and Floor. The teams also crafted stunning, highly intricate environments and FX sequences for the film’s first and third acts.

Framestore was nominated for nine awards across its film and episodic slate, showcasing a diverse spread of high-end projects that encompass superhero tentpoles, gripping sci-fi, whimsical fantasy and prestige drama. The nominated titles were Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Wonka, Loki s2, The Crown s6, Peter Pan and Wendy and Invasion s2.

An Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA winning creative studio with offices in London, Montreal, Mumbai, Melbourne, Vancouver, Chicago, New York and LA, Framestore combines talent and technology to reframe the possible in advertising, film, episodic and immersive experiences.

Its current slate of film and episodic projects include Wicked, IF, Deadpool 3, How To Train Your Dragon, Paddington in Peru, Civil War, Furiosa, Borderlands, The Fall Guy, Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver and Mickey 17. 

Recent projects include Barbie, Wonka, Ted, One Piece, Loki s2, Foundation s2, Rebel Moon - Part One: Child Of Fire, Wheel Of Time s2, Leave the World Behind and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.