What would London look like if Africa had colonised Europe? 

Set in an alternative present, Noughts and Crosses flips the world we know, shifting power and prejudice in a dramatic adaptation of Malorie Blackman's books. 

We were commissioned to help build the world of Noughts + Crosses; from the concept design of the world, to the final VFX, Factory Fifteen helped throughout the pre-production, production and post-production of the show. 

Noughts + Crosses is a six part drama made by Mammoth Screen for BBC.

Watch the show online here:

The world of Noughts + Crosses is a world of two sides, a world of contrasts and opposites. We retained the strong visual locator of the Thames river that runs through London.  The capital was redesigned to create a clear visual divide between the Noughts on the South side and the Crosses on the North. Vibrant colour and pattern play off a block estate vernacular that is familiar to London, whilst the Spirit of the Cross statue stands tall over an international CBD. Strong pyramidal shaped office buildings stand firm in a modern and African inspired architectural capital; Albion. 

Below show some before / after VFX transformations that locate the story in the show. 

A crucial part of the storytelling was to situate the world. During the development of the show we helped research and speculate as to when Europe was colonised, by who and how. This helps set some rules for the architecture of London. What still exists and what would be re-imagined in a new timeline of history. 

We later designed a series of motion graphic captions that help place the viewer with a new historic timeline at the beginning of the series. 

A series of original concept artworks were created during the pre-production development phase to design the look and feel of the world. These would go on to form a reference for the VFX. 

A series of architectural assets were designed for VFX in order to be used by all post-production companies across the series. This gave all teams and artists a consistent kit of parts along with the concept art for direction ensuring a cohesive world. 

Factory Fifteen undertook the establishing and locating visual effects shots for the series. From the Nought estates to aerial city shots, our design package was integrated into the shot footage of the show. 

The designed assets were shared with South African based Visual Effects studio Chocolate Tribe to create a consistent palette and look throughout the production. Below are a series of stills from the final series.