PRIMEVAL
Series 2, Impossible Pictures for ITV1

Following a meeting with producers Adam Browne and Paul Frift and special effects supervisor Mark Holt we were invited to get involved in episode 5 of the second series of Primeval. The episode concerned creatures hidden under the sands of the Silurian past and series vfx facility Framestore had requested that the effects be achieved practically not digitally.

A forty by twenty foor dunescape was constructed in studio space at Quinetiq in Chertsey, the sand displacement being achieved via a number of aluminium plugs pulled via hidden cables. A bluescreen 'buck' was constructed of one of the creatures for scenes of it bursting free of the sand. Additional shots of bullet hits, dust elements and closeups of a radio controlled 'probe' exiting the anomaly were also provided.

Filming was supervised by regular model unit cameraman Peter Tyler.