Slumberland

DNEG delivered 230 VFX shots over seven key sequences for Netflix’s 'Slumberland'.
 
'Slumberland' follows a young girl named Nemo as she sets off on a series of adventures in her dreams - and more often nightmares - travelling through a series of incredible environments. The movie takes us to a magnificently colourful ballroom made entirely of butterflies, an underwater world that she can magically walk through - and we meet creatures including her outlaw companion Flip, a magically-alive toy pig, as well as dancers made of butterflies and a terrifying nightmare ‘squid’ made from smoke.

The DNEG team went above and beyond to help create an immersive movie experience that takes the audience deep into Nemo’s dream world. 

One of the ‘dreamiest’ moments takes place in the ‘Cuban Hotel’, shot in a completely FX-driven environment. The sequence sees the hotel lobby form out of nothing, morphing into a space fully built from butterflies before moving to a beautiful ballroom - also built from thousands of butterflies. This is followed by a scene sweeping through 200 hundred dancers, all mocap-driven dancer animations to perform a complex choreographed salsa dance, then given FX simulations to create the ‘built from butterflies’ effect.

For another intense key sequence called ‘Sea of Nightmares’, the VFX team created CG hair and clothing following Nemo in her underwater adventures before a dangerous ‘smoke squid’ arrives. 

Several other underwater shots across the movie include more CG-environments, water FX, a mix of digi-doubles, and CG enhancements to Nemo. 

Every Adventure Begins with a Dream

'Slumberland' | Behind the VFX

'Slumberland' | VFX Breakdown

'Slumberland' | Trailer

This is for the dreamers

An adventure beyond

your wildest dreams

We all made 
it happen

DNEG goes from dreams to nightmares for ‘Slumberland’