‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ Premieres with Enchanting VFX from The Embassy

Independent creative studio The Embassy is pleased to share its VFX work for ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’, recently released on Roku.

‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ marks a significant progression for The Embassy since it first made its name through Oscar-nominated work for ‘Iron Man’ and ‘District 9’. Having spent the past few years honing its creature capability and project management, the 70 person facility’s ever-expanding breadth of skills is visible throughout the series.

As the primary vendor, The Embassy was brought in during pre-production to aid in the extensive development and planning process necessary for a show of such scale, leveraging the studio’s creative expertise. The team then completed 550 shots for the adventure series, including the majority of its most complex work. 

Above: The Spiderwick Mansion

Magic mushrooms, faeries, set extensions, spiders, miniature stoves, face morphs, and human chameleons all fell into The Embassy’s remit, with the pièce de résistance being Thimbletack, a mischievous CG boggart who lives in the Spiderwick Mansion (also built by the studio). A  feature so prominent he’s listed among the main cast, his intricate toolbelt was one of the show’s many challenging design elements - as was the creation of a new form of face swapping and a character breaking apart into flowers. Grounding these spectacular moments, The Embassy still strikes the right balance between fantasy and believability - particularly in the case of the Spiderwick Mansion - through use of colour, lighting, and materials.

Winston Helgason, president and EP at the Embassy, comments: “Thimbletack and the Spiderwick Mansion are excellent examples of The Embassy firing on all cylinders and I am very proud of the work. Not only does Thimbletack look great, he is a dynamic simulation showcase with a particularly itchy sweater and a physics-based belt that puts Batman’s to shame.”

Above: The trailer for The Roku Channel's 'The Spiderwick Chronicles'