Wonka
Updated: Sep 3
PRODUCTION
Studio | Framestore (London) |
Department | Previsualization |
Role | Asset Builder |
Year | 2023 |
Software | Maya, Zbrush, Substance Painter, Photoshop |
Director | Paul King |
Production | Warner Bros |
THE PROJECT
A musical fantasy film directed by Paul King, released in 2023, telling the early years of Willy
Wonka, the famous chocolatier imagined by Roald Dahl. Played by Timothée Chalamet, the young
Wonka arrives in Europe with the dream of opening his shop at the Galeries Gourmet, the city's
temple of chocolate. There he runs up against the Chocolate Cartel, three established chocolatiers
ready to do anything to eliminate this all-too-gifted newcomer. Framestore delivered the majority of
the film's visual effects.
MY ROLE
I worked as an Asset Builder within Framestore's previsualisation department. My work focused
mainly on the modeling and texturing of the Galeries Gourmet set, the grand covered arcade at the
heart of the film, heavily inspired by Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. These previs assets
served as a foundation for the production before being taken over and refined by the modeling
teams for the film's final version.
I also handled the creation of the Galeries' three chocolatiers end to end: Gerald Prodnose, Felix
Fickelgruber, and Arthur Slugworth, members of the Chocolate Cartel and Wonka's main rivals. On
these three characters, I covered the full pipeline: modeling and sculpting, texturing, then rigging,
delivering complete, animation-ready characters.
Everything was produced in Maya and ZBrush for modeling, sculpting, and rigging, and in
Substance Painter and Photoshop for textures.This previs work reflects my environment work for film and television well, continuing what I've done on House of the Dragon for Pixomondo.
