Toybox

Toybox Opening Credits from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Starting last week on the Seven Network is a kids television series I worked on called 'Toybox'.

I basically did the opener as well as a few graphics peppered throughout the show.

The concept is a well known one: when the people leave, the toys come to life and play. It's aimed at  a younger audience with an educational perspective to it.

It was great fun to work on. As always, time and money were very tight so I had to be fairly economical with my approach to the opener. Because of the 'green screen' nature of the show the camera had to be 'locked down' for the ease of production. I was determined that I move the camera as much as possible for the opener to give the audience a greater sense of the characters interacting with their environment.
This is the opener with the temp audio track laid in.

Toybox_patch vfx from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

As the 'toys' were performers in suits, there was both a 1:1 scale set and an over sized set built.
Budget constraints meant that only certain 'frequently used' areas could be built in the over sized area. All other locations were achieved with the actors on green screen keyed into the 1:1 set.


Toybox_Tina_vfx from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Obviously props like giant scale chairs and tables would have cost far too much to build practically, so CG versions were created and the original camera move tracked.

Toybox_Tom_vfx from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This shot was very difficult to track. I realised after the shoot that I needed WAY more elements in the green screen to help with tracking the shot. Matching perspective also became a challenge. In the end, I think I managed to strike enough of a balance between making the shot believable as well as aesthetically appealing.