I spy movie magic - visual effects pioneer sets out to reanimate UK film industry

Even the most talented visual effects artists would struggle to make their profession sparkle right now.

- James Tapper

Technicolor, one of the most famous names in movies, went into administration last week, a symptom of a malaise hanging over a British film industry hit by budget cuts and competitors overseas.

Yet a London startup is about to unveil cutting-edge technology that it believes will help reinvigorate the UK's fortunes.

Joseph Steel, co-founder of Visualskies, which has worked on movies including Paddington in Peru and Napoleon, and his team have found a way to allow camera operators to see onscreen graphics while they are filming in the real world.

"If a dragon is landing on a beach, you'll be able to see that in your monitor," Steel said. “So the camera person will be able to react to the animation he's seeing, instead of imagining it.”

Computer-generated imagery has transformed TV and movies at a dizzying pace already. The HBO show House of the Dragon filmed many of its scenes in front of a wall of LED screens so that the actors could react to flying through the air rather than guessing in front of a greenscreen – a process so frustrating that Sir Ian McKellen said it made him consider giving up acting during filming of The Hobbit.