Last year, Framestore delivered a project with Thinkwell Group for Lionsgate Entertainment World that was several years in the making.

by Adam Sargent, Producer and Business Development Manager, Framestore.

Framestore produced media for five attractions as well as environmental media that can be seen all over the brand new theme park. Lionsgate Entertainment World was a herculean project for everyone at Framestore. Together with our amazing partners at Thinkwell Group, DreamCraft Attractions and CAVU Designwerks, we delivered some really impressive results.

One of our favourite things about the project was the trust of Thinkwell and Lionsgate in us as a creative studio and the freedom to create the media using our own creative ideas.

There are so many moving parts that go into the creation of a theme park attraction or location-based entertainment experience. This means that consistency and the ability to deliver several services at once is vital.

That’s why for organisations like Lionsgate, or any other theme park operator we’re working with, having the right partners with a wide range of services and access to in-house skills is invaluable.

Immersive thinking

Theme park and LBE projects have to exist in multiple dimensions. Therefore, so does the creative thinking that goes into them. When we started the Lionsgate Entertainment World project, we knew that the park’s operators wanted to adopt the latest technologies and platforms. They wanted to use existing technology in really interesting ways.

This meant, working alongside the team at Thinkwell, our creative directors had the freedom on the project to think outside of the usual four walls of a media screen. We were able to push the boundaries of how stories could be told in an immersive way.

The results were the foundation for some incredibly immersive VR experiences and interesting story tie-ins with Lionsgate’s existing film properties. As well as a lot of world-firsts inside the park.

Designing assets for Lionsgate Entertainment World

To get to the realisation of characters, environments and objects inside an attraction, there needs to be designs and iterations, followed by more designs and more iterations.

Having an in-house art department meant that work on this project’s iterations was quick and efficient. And their decade of experience in working on the biggest global blockbuster movie properties meant that they’re well-versed in taking creative ideas and thoughts and turning them into something tangible and realistic. Even if they’re unusual and fantastical.

Executing a vision

Our work on Lionsgate Entertainment World saw us recreating, reimagining or extending characters and worlds that already existed in cinematic universes. For instance, the hugely-popular Twilight and Hunger Games movies.

Luckily, the artists at Framestore are well-versed in cinematic visuals. Whether it’s modelling creatures, creating a digital double of a leading actor or bringing to life other worlds.

It’s these skills that aren’t available in many places which were valuable to the success of the Lionsgate project. Not only because of the sheer amount of media that was being integrated into the park. But also because of the complex and immersive nature of it.

Delivering technological understanding at Lionsgate Entertainment World

So many aspects of what Framestore does is using technology to solve problems. This is something visible in all of the developmental stages of an attraction. None more so than in the delivery and installation of a ride.

For all five attractions and for the environmental media, our teams were on the ground in China installing media. They even conducted some on-site colour grades and audio mixes to make sure our work was seamless within the environment.

It’s having access to the right people with the skills to perform these small, yet incredibly important tasks that make all the difference for a large-scale project like an LBE attraction.

The Lionsgate Entertainment World project was a huge undertaking for everyone. Building a brand new theme park is bound to be. It was one on which our team of creative directors, VFX and CG supervisors, producers and artists were able to put on a real show of what we can do as a one-stop-shop for the attractions industry.