Shardlake

“The central challenge with Shardlake was creating the world of an English Medieval Monastery when – thanks to Henry VIII – they don’t exist any more.  We needed ours to be imposing, atmospheric, isolated, and set on wild, desolate coastland.  We pieced it together using Hunedoara castle in Romania for everything outside the monastery walls, and Kreuzenstein Castle in Austria for everything beyond the gate.  Both needed extensive VFX work to knit them together, make them feel like wealthy English religious institutions, and set them in the landscape, but it was also essential that the VFX work was invisible:  we wanted the audience to feel they’re watching a real world captured in camera, not a digital one, or a fantasy world. 

I’ve always been wowed by BlueBolt’s period environment work – their attention to detail, their ability to capture the texture and feel of a place, to deliver VFX that knits seamlessly with the real environment, and their creative, collaborative approach.  They feel like a second art department, working hand in hand with production through prep, shoot and post, and their role on Shardlake was central in delivering on our ambitions for the show.”

— George Ormond, Shardlake Executive Producer, The Forge Entertainment

BlueBolt delivered 280 VFX shots as main vendor, for the Disney+ Original murder-mystery series Shardlake. Our work was focused on invisible world building environment work including a CG monastery, the principal setting for the story. Both the exterior and interior of Saint Donatus Monastery needed to be established in the opening scenes and revisited extensively throughout the series. BlueBolt’s challenge was to create a CG asset that was adaptable to the different filming locations across 3 countries including Kreuzenstein Castle near Vienna and Castelul Corvinilor in Hunedoara, Romania. 

Similarly, it was paramount to maintain an eerie look and sense of foreboding using mist FX elements, throughout plates shot on different days and locations. BlueBolt’s work also encompassed blood enhancements, mud and a Tudor era Tower of London DMP.