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22 cgw j u ly • a u g u s t • s e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 5 u nion, a London and Montréal based visual effects studio has proudly announced their role as sole VFX vendor on Sony Pictures' critically acclaimed 28 Years Later from Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle and Academy Award-nomi- nated writer Alex Garland. The Union team delivered more than 900 shots for this long-awaited return to the franchise. Union co-founder and VFX supervisor Adam Gascoyne worked with Boyle on the original 28 Days Later, and the pair have contin- ued to collaborate since. Gascoyne was overall VFX supervisor on 28 Years Later with Clare Norman as VFX producer. At Union, Dillan Nicholls was DFX [digital effects] supervisor, Noel O'Malley as CG supervisor, and Paul O'Hara as Union VFX producer. Reuniting director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, 28 Years Later is a terrifying new "auteur horror" story set in the world created by 28 Days Later. It's been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the in- fected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mu- tated not only the infected but other survivors as well. Boyle broke conventions all around with 28 Days Later, reinventing the zombie genre and helping to launch the digital filmmaking revo- lution of the early 2000s. The film was shot on a Canon XL1 for por- tability and to reflect the prolific nature of camcorders at the time. It's therefore apt that for 28 Years Later, Danny and cinematog- rapher Anthony Dod Mantle used a vast filmmaking toolkit and groundbreaking techniques that included many different types of cameras, including using a rig of 20 Apple iPhone 15 Pros which were adapted with cinematic lenses. The film was shot in an ultra-wide 2.76:1 aspect ratio—an innovative format used in only a handful of films throughout history to really immerse the audience in the action on screen. The use of VFX in the first film worked seamlessly (almost invis- ibly) alongside the plot and the film's distinctive grainy aesthetic. So, this time around, it was important for the VFX to work in har- mony with the narrative to enhance the atmosphere and sense of thrill. Pivotal story points in the film required vast and complex VFX to work in harmony with clever SFX [special effects] and in-camera work. Gascoyne on their approach, "Danny and I have worked together for a long time. I know it's important for him to feel the rawness of the film, and I always work alongside him and to his vision. We use VFX as a tool to help tell the story creatively, to support character arcs and development, so everything we do has to be very much background and found within the photography. There is an enormous amount of planning that goes into achieving that to give Danny the freedom to shoot and get the performances they need without interference." "In the film, the country has been without technology for near- ly three decades, so we had to seamlessly sell that narrative to the viewer. We had to make the unreal world real and totally believable. There was a huge amount of VFX work involved but much of it is in- visible. However, two sequences that were pivotal to the plot are the causeway chase and the Happy Eater. Both look pretty epic in the final film, and I'm incredibly proud of the team's work." One key environment was the causeway that connects the 'safe' island to the mainland, which is overrun by the Infected. Spike (por- trayed by newcomer Alfie Williams) and his dad, Jamie (portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson), embark on a rite of passage: a journey to the mainland and an opportunity for Spike to kill his first infected. Not only do they discover secrets and horrors, but their return culminates in a dramatic chase sequence. This terrifying sequence contains 130 shots, most of which were Images © 2025 Sony Pictures Entertainment 28 YEARS LATER UNION BRINGS AN INFECTED WORLD TO LIFE