The studio was catapulted through a rapid evolution, quickly growing to work on a variety of projects alongside its work on fantasy UI: “We have a digital team that deliver AI, apps, websites and other digital experiences, and our motion team regularly jump from commercials, to VFX, to titles, to UI prototypes, to facial projection and VR,” says Sheldon-Hicks. “Two years ago we added a physical and service design component to our company, so we now also design the interior of aeroplanes, among other things!”
Recent film projects have included Ex Machina, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, The Martian and Batman v Superman – the latter of which involved the creation of a VR Batmobile experience.
The global nature of such productions, alongside Territory’s multidisciplinary approach to work, prompted studio to find a communication solution that met the needs of its international clients.
“Or projects come in from all around the world,” says Sheldon-Hicks. “Originally they primarily came in from LA, but soon encompassed all continents.
“When working remotely from our partners – especially on complex work such as fantasy interfaces and screen graphics – communication and definition of creative intentions becomes of utmost importance,” he continues. “cineSync allows our partners to describe clearly what they need, visually and verbally, and we can record it to better implement those ideas into our output. It’s become absolutely essential to how we work as a studio.”
Information technology
“Over the years I’ve found the look and interaction with UI growing increasingly interesting to directors and the
audience – after all, most of us work in front of screens,” says Sheldon-Hicks of Territory’s specialty in fantasy user interfaces. “We need to work with art departments to get the look and feel just right for the nature of the film, and that’s where cineSync helps a great deal.”
For instance, on 2015’s Ex Machina, the Territory team researched coding language to create practical interfaces that would feel believable in that world, while still conveying a sense of technological evolution. Constant visual communication with the film’s production team meant each bit of data was presented as true to the needs of the film’s narrative as possible.
“On The Martian we also had sessions with NASA, who explained how their systems work and what sort of data each screen displays,” says Sheldon-Hicks.
Work on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, meanwhile, took on a more fantastical nature:
“On Guardians of the Galaxy we worked closely with VFX supervisor Stephane Ceretti to fine-tune details on the Milano spaceship,” says Sheldon-Hicks. “Stephane had a great eye for design and knew that our work needed to be bold enough to work for wide shots, but detailed enough to look good on a close-up. We’d get deeply into these notes on a cineSync session to make sure each moment on our screens worked visually and narratively.
“It’s here that the ability to draw on frames in cineSync proved incredibly helpful,” he
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