Dean Koonjul entered the world of visual effects in 2004. Over the years, he has worked at top studios including MPC, Framestore, Weta FX, and ILM. Since 2020, he’s been part of Union VFX. His credits span a wide range of major productions such as Batman Begins, 2012, Avengers: Endgame, and Poor Things.
What is your background?
I studied traditional cell animation at college and did a post grad in Animation Direction at the NFTS, graduating in 2001. I spent some time at various animation studios in London, working on music videos and commercials before transitioning into VFX compositing for film in 2004. Since then I’ve worked at a number of VFX houses across the globe including MPC, Framestore, ILM, Weta and DNEG. I joined Union as a DFX Supervisor in 2020.
How was the collaboration with Director Nia DaCosta?
It was a real pleasure working with Nia on this film. She’s a very collaborative director and has a great energy. I’d worked with her and DOP Sean Bobbitt on Hedda, so was familiar with their shooting style when I came on board The Bone Temple. While she’s very sure and clear about what she wants to do in a scene, she’s not afraid to consult with her crew and defer to their expertise when called upon. That level of trust really inspires you to bring your best, and I think everyone involved on this show did that. In Post, Nia was very open to our creative input throughout and was not overly prescriptive with her briefs, which gave us a considerable amount of freedom and allowed the team to feel invested in the show and their contribution to the final result.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple presents a haunting vision of a devastated England where nature has reclaimed much of the landscape. How did you approach the creation of these environments to keep the visual effects discreet yet narratively powerful?
Our main objective was to remain true to the look and tone of the desolated, post-collapse Britain that Danny Boyle had established in his film, for which Union also did the VFX. Shooting in predominantly rural locations that showcased the rugged beauty of the North of England, reduced the amount of post-collapse augmentation that was needed across this film, which allowed us to focus on key moments where reinforcing the 28 Years Later ‘look’ would have more narrative impact… such as the opening establishing shot, when the Jimmies leave the leisure centre and head off into the wilderness – helping to set the tone for the world of the movie.
Many of the environments feel grounded and almost documentary-like. What references or real-world inspirations guided the look of this post-collapse England, and how did you ensure the VFX blended seamlessly with the live-action photography?
When exploring the look and feel of a post-collapse England, for both Danny’s and Nia’s films, we researched real world re-wilding projects to get a better understanding of how nature can reclaim the landscape when left unchecked for so long.
The live-action photography was always our starting point so we took all our cues for integrating the environment work from that. We worked closely with Nia and the Production Designers (Gareth Pugh and Carson McColl) to create environments like in the opening establisher, which spoke to the North of England setting but also evoked imagery specific to our story. That shot was filmed on location at an actual disused sports centre in Bradford, already abandoned for over five years – providing a fantastic real world and authentic backdrop to build upon. Union carried out extensive digital environment work to enhance and extend the location, adding surrounding buildings, terrain, and architectural elements, including abandoned and burnt-out housing, shops, vehicles, and distant urban and rural landscapes. For this we also referenced specifically northern urban architecture that evoked past industrial eras and added clusters of tall factory chimneys to the distant environment, as a precursor to the Bone Temple stupas we see later.
Can you walk us through the balance between practical locations and digital augmentation when extending or transforming existing landscapes into a world that feels abandoned for decades?
The locations team did an amazing job of scouting some remote, hidden spots around Northern England to serve as the setting for the story. The art department and greens team would play their part on set in re-wilding, dressing and ageing these locations, so our role in VFX was really just to embellish and enhance what had been captured in camera. We used a combination of techniques to remove any remaining contemporary or ‘modern’ elements from the frame, and further age or distress what was left, in keeping with the 28 Years Later aesthetic. Lastly, we digitally added bespoke features as required, to reinforce the look.
To help connect the various locations geographically, we worked with Nia and the editorial team to construct several wide establishing shots, again always using the plate photography as our starting point, to both reinforce the geographical backdrop of the movie and to keep narrative momentum when transitioning from one scene to another. Some locations, like the train/bridge collapse and the Bone Temple itself were introduced in Danny’s film, so we were able to reuse shared assets across both films to maintain consistency.
The Bone Temple itself is a striking and unsettling location. How was the set extended or enhanced digitally, and what were the main challenges in preserving its physical, tactile feel while scaling it up visually?
The Bone Temple set was built atop some ancient mounds on the banks of the River Ure and was as impressive and imposing in real life as it appears on screen – so we didn’t need to do very much in VFX to enhance its impact. I remember being awestruck by its presence the first time I saw it… lit by fire with atmos being channelled throughout, it was really something to behold, especially when stood in its centre, surrounded on all sides by the towering bone-clad stupas.
The work we did mostly involved practical fire enhancement, sky replacements, some crucifix augmentation and a handful of shots where we supplemented or embellished the actual structure itself. We took drone scans of the entire location in case we needed them later, which we ultimately used to create the crane-to-drone plate stitch as the camera pulls up and out from Kelson and into the night sky. There was, of course, also some important and not always straight forward clean up work – it can be a challenge shooting dynamic scenes on the hand-held Trinity, from inside a circular structure of columns – as there’s always a chance you’ll be looking out at something in the background that you don’t want on film!
The film features several moments of intense gore. How did Union VFX approach these sequences to make them impactful without tipping into excess, especially in terms of integration with practical effects and makeup?
We worked closely with the prosthetics, make up, stunts and SFX teams before shooting and agreed the approach would be to achieve as much of the gore as possible in camera, to keep the visceral nature of the action and the performances. Our role in VFX was to clean up where necessary (eg. SFX blood rigs or squib hits etc.) and then to enhance the photography in post to achieve the desired level of gore. This included adding or making blood appear redder and wetter, or making wounds fresher or deeper as required. There was definitely some back and forth when reaching a level of gore that Nia and the filmmakers were happy with, so we decided to start ‘big’ and tone it down (or dial it up) as requested. Once we’d gauged the ‘appropriate’ levels of gore, it was then just about maintaining consistency in our approach across the various sequences.
Were there specific technical or creative challenges in enhancing gore-heavy shots while maintaining continuity of lighting, textures, and performance?
Nia often likes to shoot scenes as long, uninterrupted takes that allow her and the actors to focus on their performances. For a scene like the opening knife fight in the swimming pool, shooting with practical blood and resetting after every take would have been extremely time consuming and potentially broken the actors’ ‘flow’. Therefore, several takes were initially shot without blood, before Nia decided to ‘turn on the taps’. So the full extent of VFX required only became apparent once Nia and Editor, Jake Roberts, had selected their preferred takes in the cut… some with and some without practical blood. We therefore had to integrate VFX shots that were intercut with practical FX shots, which can at times be unforgiving, whilst also maintaining continuity across the scene. But it also meant we had the best practical reference to match to, for action, lighting and texture of the FX. We also employed this approach for other fight scenes in the film, such as the fight in the barn between Tom and Jimmima – so depending on which takes were chosen, the VFX work involved a combination of adding to relatively ‘clean’ takes or more of a ‘heal and reveal’ approach to remove wounds etc from takes with more practical FX in them.
The fire sequences, including the burning farm and characters engulfed in flames, are particularly visceral. How were these shots achieved, and how did you combine practical fire, simulations, and digital enhancements?
Every fire shot in the movie, including the burning people, had an element of practical, on-set SFX fire, so when enhancing these sequences there was always excellent in-plate reference to match to. We knew we might eventually need to generate some CG FX fire to achieve what Nia was after, so our strategy was to block out temp versions using 2D elements first, before committing our CG and FX resources, or planning an additional bespoke SFX element shoot.
In anticipation of this, we shot numerous additional locked off plates of the on-set SFX fire, to provide more footage which would be a better match to what was shot on the day, in terms of its look and behaviour. Ultimately, we were able to achieve the desired results using our 2D elements only, so we didn’t need to run any CG FX fire sims in the end.
For the burning people, we used a combination of clean, fireless plates of the actors and burning dummies for the farmers, and a burning stunt double whose face we replaced for JimmyJimmy.
Fire and gore both require careful attention to realism and safety. How did collaboration with the stunt, SFX, and on-set teams influence the final VFX work on these sequences?
The approach to these sequences always started with a conversation about what could safely be captured in camera, and what would help garner the best performances from the cast. Sometimes this meant holding back on set and allowing VFX to embellish what was shot, but the aim was always to maintain the realism of the action and the performances.
As a VFX artist you often have to ‘dip into’ some of the other on-set departments, so collaborating with experts in those fields is always both fascinating and can teach volumes. For example, conversations with Stunt Coordinator, Julian Spencer about how much blood might result from various types of stab wounds, or with SFX Supervisor, Sam Conway about how different types of gas might combust after a certain number of years, all fed into and informed how we approached creating the VFX, to add as much realism and authenticity to the story as possible.
Looking back, is there a particular sequence or invisible effect that you’re most proud of, or that audiences might not realize was heavily supported by VFX?
There’s a lot of invisible VFX in this film, which cut seamlessly with the non VFX shots, so I’m extremely proud of what the team has achieved and particularly the role that the VFX plays in the storytelling – intensifying the horror or the drama, or the beauty of a scene.
One area where we helped “turn it up to eleven” was the look of the infected and especially Samson in his initial Alpha state. We had a great base to start from, with the on-set prosthetic and make up work, so it’s an area that audiences may not realise the VFX contribution, which I feel really helped intensify the visceral impact of those scenes.
How long have you worked on this show?
Overall, I was on the show for over a year… conversations with Nia and Sean started in June 2024, ahead of the nine week shoot from August to October. We made a start on some asset work, but shot work didn’t kick off until December 2024 and we delivered the bulk of our shots in June 2025.
As the release wasn’t until January, we did receive a couple of additional requests off the back of preview screenings, and eventually delivered our last shot in September 2025.
What’s the VFX shots count?
378.
What is your next project?
I’m currently working on a Jack Ryan movie for Amazon but will be joining the team on Danny Boyle’s next project after that.
What are the four movies that gave you the passion for cinema?
To name only four seems unfair to so much cinema that’s inspired me over the years!
Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish and Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train are two of my all time favourites. I love their stories and the characters – so stylised, but also totally believable, and the locations evoke a real sense of place and time for me.
I should also mention the original Tron (1982), which was the first film I remember seeing in a cinema, and was completely obsessed with it at the time.
And the last 30 mins of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly comes pretty close to cinematic perfection in my opinion… for its impeccable marriage of sound and picture.
A big thanks for your time.
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WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Union VFX: Dedicated page about 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on Union VFX website.
© Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2026
