Talking Animal VFX & CGI // ‘Oi, Pussy’, BBC Three

London production company Big Deal Films approached James to bring their BBC3 adult-comedy mini-series to life with talking animal VFX of cats and dogs.

After creating the 3d model mouths for each of the characters and setting up the mouth rigs, a total of 117 individual VFX shots had to be created for 3 episodes, with each of the shots requiring tracking, lipsync animation, rendering and compositing.

In order to achieve the most realistic effect possible within the timescale, each of the shots required specific and custom amounts of CGI fur, specific lighting setups, motion blur, depth of field and colour correction.

The rendered shots were then composited and rotoscoped frame-by-frame.

The show premiered on BBC iPlayer and BBC Three’s Youtube channel on 15th September 2019.

About ‘Oi, Pussy!’:

Oi, Pussy! combines live action and CGI elements to create a world where opinionated, street-savvy cats can talk and pass judgement on their human owners without a filter.

Pussy wanders around the UK’s most notorious estate. unnoticed, gaining a unique perspective on all the dodgy dealings and anti-social antics going on in his manor. When innocent bystanders get caught in the fray, like Robin Hood, Pussy’s determined to make things right – one petty, karmic move at a time.

Oi, Pussy! is produced by Big Deal Films for BBC Three. It is written by Atlanta Green and directed by Mustapha Kseibati. The executive producer is Thomas Stogdon for Big Deal Films and the commissioning editor is Sarah Asante for the BBC.

Crew:
Executive Producers: Dhanny Joshi & Thomas Stogdon
Commissioning editor or BBC: Sarah Asante
Written by: Atlanta Green
Additional material by: Tasha Dhanraj
Produced and Directed by: Mustapha Kseibati
Line Producer: Simon Marriot
1st AD: Emma Pounds
DOP: Stuart White
Focus Puller: Chris Pollit
2nd AC: Daniel Svilenov
Sound Recordist: Aris Anastasssopoulos
1st AS: Nikos Nikolaleos
DIT/Editor: Isaac Perez
VFX: James Kearsley

Online Post Facility: 1185 Films
Colourist: Nick Franco
Sound Mix: Mark Hodgkin
Music: Audio Network
Location Manager: Sharon McGuinness
Production Designer: Frederico Nobre de Carvalho
Set Dresser: Lara Zeidan
Animal Trainer: Jo Vaughan (Birds & Animals)
Animal Trainer Assistant: Julie Tottman
Key Make-up Artist: Julia Sanchez Merino
Head of Wardrobe: Karmjit Kalla
Casting: Shout Loud Casting
2nd AD: Ruby Lake
Runner: Jake De La Mothe
Runner: Artur Haluda

Software used: 3ds Max, Vray, After Effects, Photoshop