Behind the scenes: Tonight with Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin BBC comedy show

Vladimir Putin has been brought to life as a chat show host for a new BBC comedy. James Pearce goes behind the scenes with Framestore to see how the VFX firm used motion capture to create a VFX Putin in real-time.

Sunday saw the BBC air the pilot of a new comedic chat show covering politics and current affairs, but the standout part of the show was the host: Vladimir Putin.

Not Vladimir Putin, Russian President, but a live VFX version of the former KGB agent created using cutting edge motion capture technology.

The two pilot episodes of Tonight with Vladimir Putin- filmed in front of a live audience, with guests including former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell and Guilty Feminist podcast host Deborah Frances-White.

The guests – and audience – could see a live version of the host, who was being filmed using motion capture technology behind a screen – something that, according to Framestore, one of the companies behind the production, is a first.

“Making a broadcast television show of this kind, in this way, had never been done before,” explains Simon Whalley, executive producer for creative development at Framestore. “We filmed it as…

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