Zoic Studios are the ones who bring the fantastical world of Once Upon a Time to life, and in a new interview, Executive Creative Director Andrew Orloff speaks about the process.

The Sacramento Bee has written an article about Zoic Studios’ work on the ABC show, and describes the technology Z.E.U.S. (Zoic’s Environmental Unification System) which is used on Once Upon a Time. Andrew Orloff is excited about working on the show:

Once Upon A Time is an amazing creative opportunity for Zoic. The highly detailed environments and imaginative characters of the series’ fairy tale world have challenged us to expand and fine-tune both our Z.E.U.S. and animation pipelines for television.

Zoic is working to fill in the SF gaps in partially physical sets, and the article describes the process:

The artists at Zoic Studios digitally reproduced the highly detailed castle interiors for the war room and ballroom scenes from the initial concept designs of Art Director Mark Worthington. These sets were optimized for real time playback on set, enabling Director Mark Mylod to create a dynamic world that fits the larger-than-life tales behind the series.  With only a table and columns on set, Z.E.U.S. delivered the dark walls and glowing fires that altered the mood for the tense war room scene.  Zoic and Z.E.U.S. also played a tremendous role in the pivotal ballroom wedding scene during the series opening, extending the practical columns, adding the stained glass windows and filling the room with digital guests.

Are you impressed with the visual effects on Once Upon a Time?

Read the full article here at The Sacramento Bee.