Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/371911
j u ly . a u g u s t 2 0 1 4 c g w 3 1 Fairy-tale Effects ome story- book-themed tele- vision series made their debut last season, following in the success of other shows whose premis- es were li ed from the pages of popular rhymes and tales. These live- action productions are fi lmed on locations but are enhanced by a range of visual eff ects – at times the sets and backdrops rely on CGI, while in other instances, characters emerge that are fully or partially digital. And, all of them feature VFX that drive the story magic. Once Upon A Time, a popular fantasy/drama, centers on well- known story characters who are cursed to live normal everyday lives, but plot lines o en bounce between their "real-world" and fairy-tale selves. This past April, the Once Upon A Time spin-off , Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, closed the book on its fi nal chapter following a 13-episode run that began last fall. The series was based on the "Alice in Wonder- land" premise, but like the parent show, the action takes place in present-day bizarre Wonderland with fl ashbacks to the equally bizarre Wonderland before a curse took hold. Merlin, a fantasy/adventure loosely based on the story of King Arthur, is set in an earlier period of Camelot when Merlin and Prince Arthur are just getting a feel for their power – Arthur as he learns how to become the future king, and Merlin as he begins to master magic. Grimm, on the other hand, takes viewers into the darker world of the German Broth- ers Grimm, where characters inspired by the tales and writers' imaginations appear in mod- ern-day society as creatures that shape-shi from human to make-believe creatures that of- ten bring death and destruction. The mystery/drama Sleepy Hollow is based on the classic Washington Irving story of the Headless Horseman, only with Ichabod Crane as a Revolu- tionary War hero who fi nds himself in present-day Sleepy Hollow. There, he and a female detective battle the Headless Horseman, who is determined to bring about the end of days. while Crane tries to stop him. S VFX ARTISTS CREATE A RANGE OF WORK TO SUPPORT TELEVISION SERIES BASED ON CLASSIC TALES BY KAREN MOLTENBREY