Harry Potter isn’t only a publishing phenomenon in the U.K. © 2001 - Warner Bros. - All rights reserved

While the U.K. visual effects industry has evolved at an astonishing rate over the last five years, few expected 2003 to be such a successful year. Though many had seen 2002’s merger between Framestore and CFC as a healthy consolidation, none took any comfort from the closure of The Mill’s film division. If a facility with credits for such blockbusters as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Tomb Raider and Gladiator couldn’t make the numbers add up, what chance for the other studios? In fact, the last 12 months has seen the U.K. in ruder health than ever. In both the domestic and international markets, particularly in film, the industry is thriving.

As director of Techimage, the company that supplies high-end software such as RenderMan, 3D Equalizer and Houdini to U.K. studios and was responsible for the successful Pipeline 2003 event, Seamus Morley is ideally placed to view the state of play. “It really does feel like these are the good times,” he concurs. “Both Moving Picture Co. and Framestore CFC have clearly won the confidence of big time producers with the work they’ve done so far. And though I think maybe The Mill took its eye off the ball in the commercial arena when it was still doing movies, it’s certainly come back with a vengeance.”

Having laid the groundwork over the last couple of years, Cinesite’s London division also enjoyed a successful 2003. As well as providing effects for Ella Enchanted, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LXG) and the upcoming King Arthur and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the facility also expanded by some 40% in a restructuring that saw the addition of a models team and several ex-Mill Film creatives.

“This is a very buoyant time for the U.K. film industry, and the large slate of films, U.K. co-produced and U.S. funded, shooting and post producing in the U.K. is indicative of the key position that U.K. visual effects suppliers have earned globally,” reckons Colin Brown, chairman of Cinesite Europe.

Visual and special effects were combined to bring the Tomb Raider sequel to life. Photo by Alex Bailey - © 2003 by Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.

The aforementioned Moving Picture Co. also stepped up a gear in 2003. Projects completed there in the last few months include Big Fish, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and Ella Enchanted. And having proven its worth, steadily taking on larger chunks of Harry Potter effects work, 2003 saw MPC further strengthen its position with the latest chapter. Work is due to continue into 2004, as is Troy, Wimbledon and Around the World in 80 Days.

Framestore CFC is another studio that’s been hard at work on both Troy and Potter (in fact, Industrial Light & Magic is the only non-U.K. studio involved in this project), while also contributing to Cold Mountain, and scoring with some typically accomplished CG creature work for surprise hit Underworld. 2003 also saw Double Negative continue its inexorable rise. In addition, contributions to Cold Mountain, Ella Enchanted and LXG, it has also re-teamed with David Twohy and Peter Chiang, taking on the principal effects work for the hotly tipped Chronicles of Riddick.

So what went right? The general consensus is that the U.K.’s time has come. Having courted the U.S. movie industry for the last few years, carefully invested in talent, high-end software solutions (witness the ubiquity of RenderMan) and infrastructure, and taken on ever more demanding projects, the studios are now being awarded major film and broadcast contracts based largely on merit. No longer chosen simply for cost and associated tax breaks, the majors are winning bids that would once have been the preserve of ILM, Digital Domain, Rhythm & Hues, et al.

“Two years ago the quality still wasn’t there, but 2003 has seen the U.K. producing what can be defined as world class CG,” says Morley. “And early indications are that, with work on projects like the new Harry Potter and Troy, the U.K. studios are continuing to rise to the challenge.”