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Angels & Demons


Following our work on The Da Vinci Code, Visual Effects Supervisor Angus Bickerton returned to The Senate Visual Effects to create a number of sequences for the Ron Howard sequel Angels and Demons.

We delivered over 170 shots and contributed outstanding environments and digital FX in several major scenes, most notably a photo real recreation of one of the largest and oldest churches in Rome, The Pantheon. Unable to film on Vatican property the production built a minimal set of the Pantheon interior, of just two chapels and one altar. We were then tasked with creating the remainder of this iconic structure which stretches 140 feet in diameter and 140 feet in height and comprises a further five chapels, seven altars, intricate marble flooring and the great domed ceiling with its nine metre hole at the apex, the Oculus. We spent six months crafting the sequence, starting with previs and some time on set in LA and on location in Rome In addition to the overall architecture, the Pantheon has many organic objects including ten feet high statues sitting on grand altars, which we authentically recreated and we also undertook a green screen motion control shoot at Twickenham Studios to create a entirely CG shot for when Langdon and cohort Vittoria Vetra enter the church, which opens the sequence.

Other work on the film included creating an effect for when Langdon and Skarsgård suffer from Hypoxia when they are locked in the Vatican archives and the air supply is cut off. Our supervisor experimented with several different ideas before hitting on a contra-zoomed based approach and working closely with Angus Bickerton and the film’s Second Unit, we created a unique and credible effect that adds tension and a nervousness to the scene.