“In order to achieve this ‘epic fresh ride’ where we see humans riding on bears, we knew the bears had to be crafted in CGI and as realistically as possible so the whole thing felt authentic. The production approach was to shoot the cast on location riding horses with modified saddles to represent the wider girth of the bears. The lighting, the movement, the performance are all real in camera. There is just the small matter of replacing the horses with bears!

Creating photorealistic creatures and animals is still one of the hardest challenges, but the VFX team at Untold Studios are world class and excel at this kind of work. It is an attention to every detail that really brings these bears to life. Their movement, the wobble of their fat and muscles, their fur and the snow caught in it, the integration of the riders on them. Having worked together on many projects there is a creative shorthand that is invaluable.”

Diarmid, Director.