Double Negative

Research Prior to Visit:

Website - http://www.dneg.com/ . Double negative is a Soho based visual arts company, established in 1998. Since then, it has grown to be the number 1 provider of visual effects in Europe and they now have an office based in Singapore, which opened in 2009. Double Negative have won several Visual Effects Society awards, most recently for Inception. Double Negative have also won many more prestigious awards such as an Academy Award, again for Inception and a BAFTA for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

The company has worked on a lot of projects, some large and some small. These include; Captain America, Paul, Scott Pilgrim, Inception, Sherlock Holmes and The Fast and the Furious. The list is extensive, as is the list of awards won by the company.

Showreel - http://www.dneg.com/showreel/

Double Negative offer a wide range of job opportunities. On their website, the list of job roles is quite long and includes; Runners, Junior Programmers, 3D Designers, Production Booking Assistant and Database Developer. The website also tells a prospective applicant exactly what they need to do to apply.

Contact Details:

LONDON

Double Negative Visual Effects
77 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
W1D 5DU
google map

5th Floor
45 Mortimer Street,
London
W1W 8HJ
google map

t: +44 (0)20 7534 4400
f: +44 (0)20 7534 4452
info@dneg.com

After the Visit:

During the visit to Double Negative, we watched how the designers built up the sequences in the film Captain America. In this film, the company produced 630 shots which 200 artists worked on over the course of production. Some of the sequences they worked on were the crypt and Schmidt’s office. They built up virtual vehicles, environments an also did the visual effects.

During the build phase, artists had to research in detail everything and base the visuals on their reference material. Planning for everything is also a must. In this industry it is better to over design than under design, meaning that artists had to design for all weathers. There were some part sets made for filming, such as the train in the alpine sequence. To make this all fit together, designers had to sculpt to the original shape and make the interior and environment identical. Green screen acting was used for this part so keying out the green and making it look realistic was a challenge. In the pod fighter sequence, almost everything was CG, such as the clouds and the pod fighters themselves.  There was a lot of science in this.

After seeing all the work that is put in to CG and visual effects, it seems to me to be a very hard job. It can be repetitive and a long process but is very valuable to the film industry. I am not really looking for a job in this area but it was very insightful to look at different processes of film making.

After seeing what work the company do, we were given a brief talk on the history of Double Negative. It is very easy to develop a career within the company, with most senior people having started out as runners in the early days of the company. The people they recruit at the company are normally hired for the long term. Training and development is given to help new starters thrive and build the skills they need to get ahead. The projects they work on are mainly film with an even mix between huge blockbusters and smaller independent films. Current projects the company are working on are; Dark Knight Rises, Total Recall, Man of Steel, Skyfall and Rush. The spokesperson then told us how to apply. An applicant would need to have a showreel, no longer than 2 minutes, showcasing their best work. He told is it is vital to grab a prospective employer straightaway and show them why you would be valuable to their team. This piece of advice can be transferred across all platforms and job roles. I found this very helpful in furthering my career. It has made me realise that my passion and strengths are what will help me thrive. This was a very helpful talk and I really enjoyed it.