Framestore’s studio in Melbourne was a key creative partner in Scott Derrickson’s survival romance, The Gorge, for Apple Original Films and Skydance. Led by VFX Supervisor Joao Sita, Framestore’s teams in Melbourne delivered mutated creatures, expansive, fog-shrouded environments and extensive FX work for the film.

The Gorge’s mutated creatures

Among the standout visual developments the team undertook was the integration and animation of mutated, woody creatures inhabiting the Gorge, the Hollowmen. These former soldiers, trapped in the Gorge, have been transformed by toxic plumes into grotesque, tree-like beings.

Of all the Hollowmen, Alpha, the dominant one, required the widest range of motion and direct interaction with the actors. Bringing him to life demanded a careful balance of practical performance and CG enhancement, preserving the nuances of the on-set performance while transforming him into a more imposing, otherworldly figure.

The team replaced the actor’s body with a fully CG design, introducing key anatomical changes such as elongated fingers, a narrower waist, and broader shoulders. However, facial and prosthetic elements were retained in most shots to preserve the original performance. “The challenge was to maintain the authenticity of the plate performance while elevating the character beyond physical limitations,” explains VFX Supervisor Joao Sita.

Each shot was meticulously analyzed to determine how much of the practical performance could be retained. In many cases, the actor’s facial expressions, sweat, and eye movement were preserved to enhance realism. In some shots, only the mouth was kept. This process involved precise body tracking, subtle animation to match proportions, and refinements to

Unforgiving Atmospheric Environments

The team in Melbourne also played a key role in shaping the above-ground environments, designing and building fully CG establisher shots of abandoned military facilities seamlessly embedded within an eerie, fog-filled landscape. Inspired by 1950s and 1960s military architecture, the team built out the military base with logical layouts, featuring housing, main road, and secondary roads, fuel processing stations, maintenance buildings, and electrical infrastructure.

To reinforce the abandoned, decayed feel, artists integrated overgrown vegetation, rusted machinery, and scattered debris. Ground surfaces were richly detailed with rocks, pebbles, and remnants of past activity. ‘It was a lot of information to capture in a single image. “It was also a fine balance as to how far we should go in terms of details, knowing the ever-present plumes would obstruct the shot’s clarity. We experimented with fog density, ensuring that close up shots had enough moody atmospheric depth, while wide hero shots retained clarity,” explains Sita.

Finally, the team executed a massive nuclear explosion. Using real nuclear tests footage from the 40s and 50s as reference, they crafted an explosion that balanced sheer scale with the precise timing required by the director. “The explosion needed to feel almost like slow motion, hitting all the key beats—the initial blast, the shockwave, and finally, the dust occluding the camera,” explains Sita.