8 particular thoughts about previsualizing "Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children"

Oct 25, 2017

The Third Floor London helped visualize several key scenes in director Tim Burton's newest feature film, "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children." Previs Supervisor Justin Summers kindly shares 8 particular thoughts about their contributions to the project.


1/ There were some amazing scenes to help visualize.

Our team at The Third Floor London completed previs across several sequences, including the RMS Augusta (set on a sunken cruise liner); The Parlour (inside the house where a monster attacks the kids); The Time-Relapse (where they reset time); Emma Floats (set in the gardens); The Viewing Platform (when Jake falls from the tower); and The Final Battle (where the children fight more creatures). We chiefly collaborated with and supported Visual Effects Supervisor Frazer Churchill and worked with Director Tim Burton as well.

AREA by Autodesk, article - 8 particular thoughts about previsualizing "Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children"

 Previs image courtesy of The Third Floor London

2/ Techvis helped on some sequences, too.

We did some technical schematics for the Viewing Platform, consisting of perspectives and top views to calculate camera distances. We also originally mapped out the action for the ‘Hollowgast’ invading the house, using animation with a couple of master cameras so production could see the geography of it. Eventually, we edited this, added some new shots, and shaped it into a sequence for Tim to look at.



3/ Collaboration was key.

We worked from The Third Floor’s Soho London office with regular visits from the visual effects supervisor, Frazer Churchill. He would review our work and go over notes and was just generally a great guiding force. He encouraged us to sound out ideas and experiment with staging. He also guided us in making sure what was visualized suited Tim’s vision.

AREA by Autodesk, article - 8 particular thoughts about previsualizing "Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children"

 Previs image courtesy of The Third Floor London

4/ We worked without boards.

A unique aspect of this production was that we worked entirely from shot and scene descriptions. There was quite a lot of independence as we visualized sequences and it was gratifying to create imagery to depict the filmmakers’ vision for scenes.



5/ Viewport 2.0 helped play up the shadows.

Viewport 2.0 enabled us to benefit from its shadow features and Maya's depth of field and motion blur. We used it to help add a more cinematic quality to the previs renders.

AREA by Autodesk, article - 8 particular thoughts about previsualizing "Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children"

 Previs image courtesy of The Third Floor London

6/ Being a Burton fan, this project was special.

I’ve always had a great fondness for Tim Burton’s work. His artistic style has always been one that sat comfortably with my imagination, so it was a great pleasure to have been involved on this one.



7/ I’m particularly proud of that “Time-Relapse” sequence.

The most enjoyable sequence we worked on was probably the “Time-Relapse” moment, where Miss Peregrine turns back time. It was very challenging to do this type of scene in a succinct yet visually rich way. We managed to help develop a lot of visual motifs that sold the story well, without seeming contrived.



8/ We’re honored to work with such visual storytellers.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film and thought it really showed off Tim’s abilities as a great storyteller. I’m pleased that we got the chance to be involved in such a collaborative project because the whole team was incredible to work with, and they gave us a lot of space to help contribute to some of the pivotal scenes seen on screen in the film.

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" was visualized using products available in the Autodesk Media and Entertainment Collection. Special thanks to Justin Summers for contributing this story.


More from The Third Floor:


> Cinematography of the virtual kind: The Third Floor recalls VES nominations, foreshadows future trends


> All things considered: the techvis behind “The Martian.”

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