INDUSTRY INSIGHT
A decade of imagination
Trevor Hogg celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Framestore art department with Martin Macrae
Concept art of Las Vegas for Blade Runner 2049
A
s the Framestore art department reaches its tenth anniversary, the creative endeavour is headed by an artist who has been with the visual effects company for two decades.
“My first project was the TV series Walking With Prehistoric Beasts where I helped with texturing creatures,” states Martin Macrae, Head of Art Department. “Then I moved onto the film side of things where I went through the matte painting department and digital environments. I had a good knowledge of the visual effects side of things as well as the art side. The lucky thing with the art department is we’re part of Framestore but also work independently. We’ll have lots of projects that people will come to us for, such as pitch packages to help sell a project to working with production designers on different shows as an extension of their art department, as well as internal shows that come through with visual effects. I literally help to maintain the communication and the creative briefs on all of the projects.”
An agnostic approach towards computer software allowed for a successful transition to working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re in a lucky position in the art department where we are not relying on a huge pipeline,” notes Macrae. “All of the artists can work on any software that they want. When it comes to technology, thank goodness for things like Google and Zoom as well. It’s quite a small team [eight to ten artists] so it’s easier to maintain and manage as well. We’re communicating twice a day every day at the very least.”