Debrief: Robocop

Framestore’s Andy Walker describes putting a man inside the suit and creating an army of OmniCorp robots

Andy Walker on rebooting the 80s hit

RoboCop arrived on Framestore’s doorstep as a very well developed preproduction. Director, José Padilha had been working with the studio, MGM, VFX supervisor Jamie Price, Legacy Effects, Mr X and a great concept team to produce a large body of physical props, animation tests and artwork ready for the imminent shoot in Toronto, Canada. There were concepts for almost everything and highly detailed 3D concept models for a

It was a revelation that the uncanny valley is a lot less deep when you only see a chin

lot of things. It was our job to pick up the baton as the main vendor on the show and get everything postproduction-ready and bring the concepts to the big screen.

Framestore’s key task was to embellish the practical suit from Legacy FX and bring the iconic main character to life. Meanwhile the much-loved ED-209 had received a new design alongside a new EM-208 robot and both needed to be created fully in CG. Several locations also required post work, including turning a backlot in Toronto into a sprawling future Tehran.

Our VFX supervisor Rob Duncan strategised the whole project and supervised the shoot, while as CG supervisor I worked with the Framestore pipeline and R& D departments to standardise tools and workflows hot on the heels of Gravity. Simultaneously we were opening up a Montreal facility, which was to take on a large chunk of the work. To see more, visit the website at www.framestore.com