BBC Post Production - Bristol Design has completed a two-year project to create computer generated images (CGI) of extinct creatures for new three-part wildlife drama documentary series, Monsters We Met. The programme, which features a large number of sequences in which humans interact with computer graphics, will air first on BBC 2 at 9.00pm on Tuesday 8th April.

The design team has been fully involved in the project from its conception through to final delivery and provided expert advice and practical input on issues ranging from location and visualisation to sequence animation and digital effects. A team of five animators and up to five digital effects designers have worked on approximately 300 individual shots (250 involving CGI animals). The team were involved in filming in three locations across the globe, working in snow and desert, in temperatures ranging from -50 to 45 degrees.

For the series set in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, BBC Post Production - Bristol Design has created a number of 'Monsters'. For the first programme set in North America herds of Woolly Mammoths, a Short Faced Bear, Giant Sloth, Sabre tooth Tiger, plus Mastadons and Scimitar Cats have been created. In Australia, the programme features the rhino-like Diprotodon, ripper lizard Megalania and Genyornis, a giant bird known as the Demon Duck of Doom. For the final programme based in New Zealand, a Giant Moa bird has also been produced.

The series has moved away from static shots of CGI creatures to dynamic drama sequences in which humans and animals attack, defend and co-exist. The biggest challenge has been marrying together actors and CGI into shots that were filmed with a hand held camera, but animation techniques developed by the Bristol team and recent developments in tracking software allowed the team to do this to dramatic effect.

Andrew Graham-Brown, Producer-Director, BBC Natural History Unit, outlines the ideas behind the series:
"Our ambition was to create a drama documentary series that integrates humans with extinct animals to recreate a lost world where people really did meet monsters."
"Careful planning of these sequences has enabled us to vividly portray how people struggled to survive these encounters and how in the process, humans have caused the extinction of these amazing creatures."

Jean Cramond - Design Director, BBC Post Production - Design Bristol discusses the work:
'It has been a privilege for us to work so closely with such an experienced team of wildlife and documentary film makers and I believe the final results show how beneficial it is for production teams to involve their effects and design teams at the earliest possible stage in a project. We have all learnt so much working this way that it can only benefit any future projects we take on'.

-ENDS-

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Georgie Hollett, PR & Comms Exec, BBC Resources
Tel: +44 (0)20 8576 2350 (Television Centre)
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Email: georgie.hollett@bbc.co.uk

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