Paddington's journey from London to Peru was made with old-school techniques

The National Film and Television School’s Model Making students helped create this fun map sequence for ‘Paddington in Peru’.

In the past few years, befores & afters has had the pleasure of highlighting projects crafted by students in the National Film and Television School (NFTS) Model Making department (check out past stories here).

This year, we’re highlighting a collaboration between NFTS and the makers of Paddington in Peru, for a ‘map’ sequence that follows Paddington from London to Peru. This official clip from the film includes part of that sequence:

Here, NFTS Head of Model Making / Animation Supervisor John Lee breaks down what was involved in this visual look at the design, build, animation and shoot for the sequence, alongside a whole host of exclusive behind the scenes imagery.

John Lee: The National Film and Television School (NFTS) Model Making department became involved in Paddington in Peru (2024) in July 2023, following an introduction from the school’s Director Jon Wardle to Framestore VFX Producer Celia Moreno Madrigal. Building on the studio’s acclaimed work on the previous Paddington films (2014 and 2017), her team was tasked with developing a pivotal animated sequence midway through the third instalment – charting Paddington Bear’s journey from London to his native Peru. Framestore, the film’s lead VFX studio, had recently wrapped principal photography, with director Dougal Wilson already deep into the editing process.

Working from my initial storyboard) we tested the scale of the barrel landscapes by building a full-size mock-up from foam core and card. I prefer working at full scale where possible, as it quickly reveals camera angles, rotation, and the overall look of the shot. At this stage, I used a camera phone with adjustable lenses to test framing. The barrel needed enough circumference to feel large in scale, while still being practical to build within the time available. As both a tutor and maker, an important part of the process is making clear decisions early on and explaining them, so students can understand and commit to a way of working that is often new to them.

The card barrel was mounted on a wooden dowel axle, supported by vertically fixed 3” × 1” timbers. One side was faced with green card to represent land, the other with blue for ocean. We tested small islands, land masses, and forced-perspective longitude and latitude lines made from black lining tape to explore how far the wide-angle distortion could be pushed. This simple test footage was shot on an iPhone, and enabled me to quickly analyse the shot on playback rather than looking at a live demonstration.

Having myself, worked in the art department on three stop-frame features: Fantastic Mr Fox, Frankenweenie, and Isle of Dogs, and having production designed and built the sets and models for the iconic John Lewis Bear and the Hare Christmas advert (2013), I was excited by the opportunity to once again combine real industry experience with the educational journey of my Model Making students.

Creating opportunities which bring students into collaboration with a major studio such as Framestore helps strengthen the essential link between postgraduate education and industry. While not always easy to achieve, integrating real film work alongside the curriculum gives students valuable insight into professional model and prop making, and adds significant weight to both their experience and final portfolios on the Model Making for Film and Animation MA.

Bringing in NFTS Model Making graduates Mireia Mendez Gonzalez and Eve Bannister to kick-start the build was key to front-loading the model and prop-making process. Both had two years of industry experience on *Wonka* and the two *Wicked* films, and were between projects, making the timing ideal. Introducing current students to recent graduates helps build mutual respect and lasting connections. Here, we transfer map details onto a high density polyurethane foam base (approx. 6’ × 4’), hand-carved with subtle contours to suggest a globe’s curvature. Real maps were adapted and proportions adjusted using paper and pins before quick test shoots and final commitment.

Mendez Gonzalez, and Bannister map out coastlines, build small mountain forms, and carve subtle dips and rises into the surface. While the finish will include contrasting textures, it remains largely smooth to suggest a globe or map. At this stage, we also determine city and town lettering, intended as rub-down transfers produced at 4D Modelshop / Arch 60 in the UK. Two or three typefaces in varying sizes were selected. As application would occur weeks later, outsourcing decisions are generally front-loaded early to avoid delays later in the build.

Current Model Making student Rebecca Horne, joins the team by sanding and fine texture the mountain and rock shapes with a water-based texture giving a uniformity to the final surface which will pick up subtle colour washes and dirty down.

A spacious workshop allows multiple builds to run in parallel. Here, model makers Mo Clouting and Olivia Smallbone create initial cloud forms for testing. Maintaining translucency is crucial, as this matches the camera data requested by Framestore. Different upholstery waddings are ideal for achieving realistic cloud shapes, a technique I’ve used since *Aliens*. After graduating, both students are working full time at Mackinnon and Saunders in Manchester, and Bristol’s Aardman Animations.

Model maker Jakub Krason joins in with sanding and texturing. Since graduating in July 2024, Jakub has been working full time in Germany as model / set builder / supervisor on *Das NEINhorn*, a mix of CG animation and real-life sets. Production is Studio Soi GmbH & Co. KG, X Filme Creative Pool GmbH.

Over the past nine years, the course has also built a strong reputation within the industry, with graduates going on to work on major productions including Dune, Harry Potter, Running Man, Silo, Supergirl, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Shaun the Sheep, Wallace and Gromit, and Frankenstein, amongst many others.

I met with the Framestore VFX team, including VFX Supervisor Alexis Wajsbrot and Animation Supervisor Pablo Grillo. Executive Producer Dan Matley explained that discussions with director Dougal Wilson were gathering pace, so I was invited to help shape the sequence’s creative direction, sketching ideas for camera setups in a series of meetings.

Modelmakers begin constructing the barrel Globe from laser cut ply wood, fixed to rotating bearings along a length of scaffolding tube. The globe barrel will be animatable throughout the shot and clad in thin mdf strips glued, sanded, and skimmed by hand, before texturing with sealer and a paper mache texture to keep the fine papery aesthetic present. Barrel drawn up in Fusion 360 by graduate model maker Tom Winfield, who since graduating in 2021 has been full time working in Propmaking on projects such as *Wonka*, *Wicked* 1&2, and *Supergirl*.

Anielle Marimootoo joins the barrel construction team. Anielle has many years Theatre carpentry experience.

A thin layer of Fibreglass P40 was laid inside the barrel to keep the 3mm MDF planking firm, after first being pinned/ nail gunned to the circular disks.

Although the sequence could have been created entirely in CG, it felt clear that grounding the sequence by using physical models would produce a stronger end result. Pablo wanted to capture the playful, tactile feel of stop-frame animation, while still finishing the work in CG. With time tight, building real models and shooting using stop frame animation offered a faster way to explore ideas, as well as providing valuable textural reference for lighting and animation.

To set the tone, I shared some recent NFTS graduate animation shorts including One Liner, Heatwave, Song of a Lost Boy, Meow or Never, Build Me Up, The Clearing and Tornado Outside, which all featured quirky sequences involving model vehicles and travel sequences made by my then model making students at the time.

Rebecca Horne and Alex Duxbury begin painting thin washes of scenic paint over the landscape map to build up subtle colours, and depth, using brushes and sponges. Working wet on wet, over a white base, allows a nice watercolour feel to develop. We also use water spritzers to keep the paint wet when needed.

Marimootoo cutting in the sea areas on the map with a mix of blue. For coverage and opacity, I use predominantly water based Rosco scenic paints.

Dominique Charalambous, Georgia Ellis, and Hannah Beales join the painting team The students were now relying on strong teamwork skills which they had successfully developed during the last 6 months on the course.

Mathew Joyce and Olga Lunina join Bannister to begin fine texturing both halves of the globe using papier-mâché, water-based Idendon, and subtle fillite. Throughout the process, students are encouraged to judge detail through the camera lens, ensuring textures are intentional and varied rather than uniformly applied. Regular testing helps maintain control, especially as any unintended roughness becomes highly visible when projected onto a cinema screen.

Sarah Lewis joined the painting team after completing a scenic sky backing on stage. With experience in theatre paint departments, she shared her skills with students less confident in this medium. Painting is central to all model and prop work and, when done well, can elevate a build even with limited construction time. As the painted surface is the first thing the camera sees, achieving a natural finish is essential.

In the lead-up to Christmas 2023, Framestore created a 3D previs to establish camera movement, composition, and timing. This informed a first pass of 2D concept art, which became the template for what we would shoot. Soon after, we received a simple previs for the full 45-second sequence—an exciting green light. With a fixed delivery deadline of the end of July 2024, I planned the schedule backwards, knowing the VFX team needed to begin final animation as soon as possible.

Model Build and Shoot

After a period of five months planning and re-scheduling curriculum duties, model making began in February 2024 and ran for nine weeks. To kick-start production, I brought in two former NFTS Model Making graduates, Mireia Mendez Garcia and Eve Bannister – both already working professionally on Wicked 1&2 to kick start the build and mentor current students. I scoped the build: two scales of vintage DC-3 aircraft, a continuous topographical landscape spanning London to Peru, an animated barrel globe, hand painted sky backings, cloud formations, and dedicated cloud and lighting studies to demonstrate how real light interacts with physical materials when shot frame by frame.

Visiting tutor Josie Corben (Fantastic Mr Fox, Frankenweenie, Isle of Dogs) designed the rigging for the large-scale DC3 plane. I purchased a vintage Airfix kit on line and used that as a starting point, knowing it would be lightweight. We adapted some fully animatable propellers—both blade and motion-blur disk versions. Mounting it on an overhead ball and socket rig with manual winders gave us some subtle animation as the plane negotiated the clouds. The plane also featured two practical LED lights in both cockpit and fuselage which tied nicely into the CGI animation of Paddington playing with his overhead cabin light.

Pre-lighting the first map set. Low-hanging clouds were suspended on fine fishing wire, casting soft shadows as the camera and plane tracked through the shot. At this stage, the landscape had no lettering applied and was angled slightly rather than parallel to camera. This setup allowed the smaller-scale DC3 to pass above or below the first cloud layer, giving Framestore flexibility to select shots that best matched their pre-vis.

Small-scale DC3 setup showing the rig attached to the plane. Motion-control shots were captured on the track, with each pass filmed both with and without the plane to provide Framestore with clean plates.

Student model maker Krason works on the large-scale DC3, applying a bespoke spray finish, logos, transfers, and small reflective patches to enhance light refraction during filming. The plane featured two interchangeable propeller types: standard blades and clear disks with painted motion-blur.

Close up shot of plane showing rear mounted armature joint rigging. The plane was subtly dirtied down to appear more real and lived in.

Model maker Joyce, who previously studied at BAU College of Art and Design, Barcelona before joining The National Film and Television School, animated the opening shot alongside other students. The 6-foot set, combined with lens choice and plane positioning, allowed about 5 feet of travel. The sequence was filmed at different plane speeds throughout the shot on which director of Photography Nina Oyens pre-programmed a light transition from golden hour to early evening.

Our brief was to construct the models, shoot animation and lighting tests, and upload everything to Framestore’ s portal for rapid feedback and iteration from Pablo and Andre. Once the R&D budget was agreed, I moved into one of our shooting stages and set up two camera units, and brought in NFTS cinematography graduate Nina Oyens. Her eye for miniature photography and lighting made a significant contribution to the final sequence seen on screen. One of the set ups utilized a two-meter-long precision motorised track, which we set up to Dragonframe, allowing for a variety of filming speeds and shot length. Having the camera move automatically was another advantage as our shooting time was limited.

Nina Oyens commented: “I was thrilled when John asked me to shoot the Paddington stop motion sequence at the NFTS. I really enjoy shooting stop motion and thought this could be a fun challenge. We had worked together previously on a motion control shoot where we recreated a miniature FX scene from the original Tom Cruise Mission Impossible in the CIA vault, with Motion Control kit supplied and operated by Jonathan Jones and our friends at multi-Emmy winning production studio Ember Films.

With Paddington in Peru, I had two different sets – one of a model plane flying over the world map landscape and another of it flying over the ocean/ globe with a sky background. I had some previous experience shooting stop motion on the NFTS – BAFTA nominated animated short film The Tornado Outside. I took many lessons learned on that set to this one, such as how to use the software Dragon Frame, and shooting at a narrow aperture in order to make the miniatures look life sized – I set most of the shots to stop f/8 or f/11 on the camera, which increases the depth of field.

For the world map setup, the camera had to move, as we would follow the plane as it flies over the different countries. For that, we used a motorised slider and had some trial and error to figure out how many frames would be necessary to create a natural looking speed for it to move across. In terms of lighting, my goal was to keep things fairly naturalistic, especially for the map setup, which was nicely textured. I wanted to create a sunny feel so I just had a light doing a soft ambience and a harder “sun” casting shadows through the clouds onto the map surface.”

Director of Photography Oyens adjust lighting whilst Bannister makes final changes to cloud formations ready for shooting. This set up was built in layers from painted scenic backing, by Lewis, clouds, barrel and plane and two layers of foreground clouds. We shot some of this in separate passes to keep control of focus and maintain a magical quality to the shot. The brief was to keep the idea of montage and layers rather than favouring ultra-realism.

Model Maker Charalambous animating clouds and plane.

Model Makers Ellis and Lunina animating the barrel, plane and clouds.

Animation Shooting

We began by shooting simple lighting and camera movement tests to gather early feedback from Framestore, then progressively built complexity—introducing more dynamic aircraft movement, layered cloud formations and bolder lighting, going from day to night-time. The shoot was deliberately treated as a work in progress: these were reference shots, not locked frames, so creative freedom was prioritised over perfection. Shooting beyond the edges of the sets didn’t matter, which allowed us to generate a large volume of usable material very quickly.

This flexible approach also opened up animation duties to the Model Making students, myself, and tutors: Joe Holman and Josie Corben, fostering a genuinely collaborative, studio-style workflow. I recall that we were completing around 3-4 shots a day, shooting a mix of single frame and doubles.

Lunina became pretty adept in creating some nice swirling movement on the cotton clouds which passed camera at various speeds. To capture this hand made quality, I shot these at different speeds and focal lengths. The clouds tracked past camera manually, necessitating some very fine animated movements the smallest of which was one milimetre.

The team of Lewis and Duxbury animating barrel globe rotation.

Head of Model Making John Lee animating the small- scale plane on opening shot.

Lee attending to the large scale DC3 on the rotating barrel globe shot.

A key creative requirement from Framestore was capturing how real light behaves on physical materials which are moving – particularly the way it interacts with reflective and metallic surfaces on the aircraft, animated propellors, contrasted against the soft, translucent diffusion of light through animated cloud formations. By taking our real reference footage, they could enhance, rather than creating everything in CG from scratch. Our director of photography: Nina Oyens captured this beautifully in 4K, delivering high-quality reference that proved invaluable to the Pablo’s team.

Nina Oyens continues: “For the plane against the skyline the camera setup was easier as we shot everything from the same position, on a static shot, and just adjusted the plane, globe and clouds around so it would seem like a different angle. For night shots flying over the ocean scene, I had to create a sunset and night setup which was an adaption of a previous student cinematographer’s test set up incorporating a soft box creating an ambient light, a hard source backlighting the plane (which worked for both sun and moonlight), a light hitting the sky background to change it from pink to light or dark blue. Most of our lights were RGB LEDs so I had full control of the level, temperature and colour palette.”

Model making tutor Joe Holman, key sculptor at Mackinnon and Saunders animation rotating barrel.

Close up shot of large scale DC3 flying over the sea on the barrel globe set up.

Animation filming followed over an intensive two-week shoot, delivering a tactile, handcrafted foundation that helped shape the final CG sequence in the finished film.

This was a truly fantastic end to that particular year, which also saw those Model Makers have two different work experience opportunities. It was some months before we were able to see the final result of Paddington in Peru on the big screen but when we did, it was astonishing to see the response from the students who saw their work and made it all possible. Certainly, it’s true to say the sequence would not look like it does without the actual practical model work and stop frame animation, and even more exciting to hear that Framestore were incredibly happy with the collaboration and the end result. Shortly afterwards, Dougal Wilson visited the NFTS for a Masterclass and spent time looking at the models and meeting the students who created the work.

Thanks to:

Framestore – Dan Matley, Celia Moreno Madrigal, Victoria Stockdale, Alexis Wajsbrot, and Pablo Grillo.

Dougal Wilson

Crew:

National Film and Television School – Model Making students: 2023/24

Eve Bannister, Mireia Mendez Garcia, Hannah Beales, Dominique Charalambous, Mo Clouting, Alexandra Duxbury, Georgina Ellis, Rebecca Horne, Matthew Joyce, Jakub Krason, Sarah Lewis, Olga Lunina, Anielle Marimootoo, Olivia Smallbone, and Tom Winfield

Director of Photography: Nina Oyens

Tutors:

Head of Model Making/ Animation Supervisor: John Lee

Model tutors: Joe Holman and Josie Corben

Suppliers:

4D Modelshop London

You can find out more information on the Model Making for Film and Animation MA at the NFTS website here.

Follow NFTSModelMaking and John Lee on Instagram.