The Mill’s VFX team worked to create a highly authentic representation, perfecting every detail of the orca’s appearance and behaviour. 

The team also worked to create the CG water environment in which the orcas are depicted, working with the in-house team at WCRS to ensure the representation remains life-like throughout the installation.

Mill Joint Head of 3D, Michael Chapman explains, 

“Our CG team crafted and animated the Orcas to bring across their scale and worked on the environment to show how confined they can be in captivity, and to also convey the space they have in the open ocean.

Some of the screens which host the installation actually match the real life scale of the Orca so this had to be reflected in the animation. We looked at lots of references to make sure the movement felt natural and helped reinforce the oppressive feeling in the tank as well as the liberated feeling of the Orca in the open ocean.”