Double Negative London Studio Visit

Double negative was also a company we visited during our trip to London. Dneg was the largest company we visited during this trip. Located in Soho, London Dneg began with a staff of 30 people in 1998. From the late 90’s the company progressed to around 500 staff which went from occupying a small section of one floor to spreading over the whole building. Their scale as a company is also represent by their history of work and clients. Including Harry Potter, Iron Man, Batman (The Dark Night), Hellboy 1 & 2, James Bond (Quantum of Solace) etc.

























The main point in the visit was in the viewing room which was presented similar to a cinema. During this time we was shown a short showreel of their work and then moved on to watch the making of ‘The Dark Night’ which consisted of visuals and an explanation of how they approached the project and completed the work. It was an interesting an extraordinary watch as it show behind the scene look at how scene were created in 3D and real. They also broke down some of the shots in which they produced special effects for. Including a look into some of the green screen work and stunt doubles. It was amazing to see the work Dneg created on this film and just how much they produced for the film.

We was then given some advise by Dneg in regards to out show reels and what they look for and what their scheme is to progress through the company. The advise was similar to what Studio aka and mainframe suggested. That being to keep the showreels snappy and show our best work. (meaning less is more). Moving on to how people start at Dneg and how they can develop, they referred to Paul Greenwood an ex-student at Stockport. explaining that him and any person will start as a runner. They explained that this is a brilliant way to get in to the industry (similar to studio aka) it provides runners with experience around the company and experience on how projects are handled. In Dneg’s and Paul Greenwoods case the next step is Match moving. Which is the entry level in the production stages. Which basically consists of a designer matching the environment of a live action shot with elements or full scenes of chi (Computer Generated Images). It was great to see another company (especially the size of Dneg) having this root to a successful job, providing support and guiding for there employees. Overall it was another inspiring experience at a Studio.