ALCHEMY + DISNEY = LIMITLESS

For those who have yet to see it, Limitless is a Disney+/Nat Geo docuseries directed by Darren Aronofsky following Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth as he pushes his body to the limits in an effort to improve health and prolong life. Placing himself in high-stress physical and mental situations such as extreme cold or extreme fear, this science-heavy series explores what happens to human systems when pushed to snapping point.

Among the largely live-action delivery, Alchemy were commissioned to create a series of explanatory animations, in the style of a pop-up book, to help us comprehend what the eye cannot see and make sense of the reactions, chemical, hormonal etc. that Hemsworth’s body was experiencing. The series saw them partner up with Richard Wilkinson who had been the series illustrator from its early development.

Andrew Milner of Alchemy gave us an insight into the complexities and challenges involved…

• At the outset of Season 1, what were the challenges - creatively or technically?

We came on board midway through the project for Season 1 so the main hurdle initially was getting up to speed with everything on such a big project. Immersing the team in the science of the human body, the visual language of pop-up books and the intricacies of a big budget production with multiple stakeholders were the main challenges for us at the outset.

• Was there a particular penny-drop moment when you cracked the best way to approach this paper pop-up style?

I’d love to say there was, but the reality as slightly different!! Each time we thought we’d cracked it we’d be hit with the scripts for a new episode that presented a new set of challenges. So it was more a case of adapting and reacting as new issues arose.

Initially the challenges were conceptual and about how we represented the different areas of a human body using just paper engineering. What does an origami ketone look like?! But those problems often then revealed technical challenges like rigging a static image of a human cadaver to row across the page of a pop up book without it looking weird.

Ultimately the challenge became the sheer scale of the delivery with 16 sequences being delivered. At times it did feel a bit like whack-a-mole but ultimately creative and technical problem solving is what we do and so it’s part and parcel of any project and something you have to embrace.

• Was this the first time you’d been given an illustrator to collaborate with and was it fun working with Richard Wilkinson?

It was the first time for us! But it was incredibly fun to have a partner in creative crime to be able to bounce ideas back and forth with. Often we’d have a rough idea of how we might represent a certain concept or idea but Richard was adept at interpreting the challenge and providing illustrations that added further clarity and interest to our sequences.

• What was the most satisfying aspect of this project?

At the end of every project we try and take a moment to reflect and review it… often this is down the pub but with Limitless we sat and watched all 16 sequences we had produced and it was quite something to see the breadth of work Alchemy had created. Then we went for a pint or two.

Also being able to tell your Mum she can log onto her Disney+ and see your name in the credits of a show presented by Thor is pretty cool.

• Was Season 2 easier to navigate having nailed the necessary techniques in Season 1 or did it present its own new challenges?

I don’t know if it was a lot easier but it was certainly helpful to have gone through the process once before and to be able to have a shorthand for the visual world we were diving back into. But as always each project throws up unique challenges and problems to be solved.

With this season being focused more on the mental side of things we had to continually think of new and visually dynamic ways to represent the human brain so that each sequence felt fresh and new. And a late client change of plan on one of the episodes required us redo two sequences with a three week turnaround before delivery which the team handled magnificently! 

More motion excellence by Alchemy here.

More illustration magic by Richard Wilkinson here.

Previous story / Next story