For the company’s 20th anniversary, its founder shares a selection of innovative work his teams have produced, on shows like ‘Wonder Woman,’ ‘1917,’ and ‘The Sandman,’ since opening its doors in 2002.
Proof founder Ron Frankel has shared with AWN a personal selection of top visualization sequences and breakdowns from projects his company has worked on since he opened the studio’s doors in 2002. Their expertise in visual storytelling spans previs, postvis, techvis, and visual effects across feature film, episodic, and immersive entertainment. Here’s to 20 more years of innovative VFX work!
Frankel’s 15 are as follows (click the title to find more details about the project):
2003 ('02) The Cat in the Hat
Thank you to longtime friend, collaborato,r and mentor Alex McDowell for bringing us on to this fun and crazy project. And a huge thank you to John Swallow for issuing that first contract!
2005 ('04) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
A chance to work in London with Tim Burton on a remake of a childhood classic? Who could say no to that?! This project also cemented the idea that I wanted to have a Proof studio in London to service the UK film market.
2006 ('05) World Trade Center
This one was a deeply personal and emotional experience for me. On multiple occasions I met with the actual 1st responder survivors who are depicted in the film. I would show them the Previs I was working on with Oliver Stone (Director) and John Scheele (VFX Supervisor) and they would describe their firsthand experience. Our meetings would end in hugs and tears.
2011 ('09) Green Hornet
It was a dream to work with Michel Gondry, and I owe him a huge thank you for letting us experiment on this project with our proprietary “toon-shaded” Previs. The work looked fantastic, and it started a line of visual development that we’re still pursuing to this day with our work on Indiana Jones 5.
2013 ('12) Fast & Furious 6
Fast 6 was the project that gave Proof the opportunity to launch its London studio. In April 2012 we founded Proof-London in partnership with local Previs Supervisor Pawl Fulker.
2014 ('12) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The first of many collaborations with Marvel Studios, and another chapter in the development of “toon-shaded” Previs.
2017 ('15) Wonder Woman
Our team worked closely with Patty Jenkins (Director) and Bill Westenhofer (VFX Supervisor) on the no-man’s land sequence as Wonder Woman charges across the open battlefield to defeat the German soldiers on the other side. Once the Previs for that sequence was completed it was like a light bulb went off for everyone…. That’s who Diana is! That’s how she’s going to wield her powers!
2018 ('16) Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Playing with dinosaurs and joining this epic franchise? Yes, please. This film was our first foray into Jurassic World, with our latest being Jurassic World: Dominion, where our UK studio touched almost every frame in the film.
2019 ('18) 1917
When we were first approached about 1917 we thought there is no way they’re going to tell this story as a single, continous shot following one soldier across the battlefields of Europe during World War 1. But then we thought, if they’re going to try, then we need to be there to help figure this out.
2020 ('20) The Blacklist
As the pandemic started shutting everything down we were called upon to quickly animate scenes for the Season 7 finale of The Blacklist. They had filmed most of the episode, but not all of it, and they wouldn’t be able to film more. We are asked to animate the unfilmed scenes. Seeing our artist’s graphic-novel style animation broadcast worldwide was thrilling.
2021 ('19) No Time To Die (trailer)
A Bond film? Hell yes! Big stunts! Big action! This is why we started our London studio!
2022 ('20) The Sandman
The Sandman is a classic, and to have a hand in bringing this story to the screen was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Making it even more special, Proof’s Supervisor on the project had the original issue comic books and Neil Gaiman signed each one. Best crew gift ever!
2022 ('21) Peacemaker
We worked with James Gunn on The Suicide Squad and had a blast animating Starro, King Shark, Polka-Dot Man and lot's and lot’s of rats, so we were thrilled to join his team again for Peacemaker. Who knew things would get even weirder with Eagly, alien butterflies and an enormous cow-caterpillar creature.
2022 ('18) Avatar (trailer)
It’s a rite of passage in the VFX industry to work with Cameron on an Avatar film. It is awe-inspiring to see these films being made.
2023 ('22) Fast X (trailer)
16 years (and 8 films) later we’re still coming up with crazy sequences that push the limits and bring Fast & Furious fans into the theaters.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
