Manchester’s VERSA Studios has produced an exclusive behind-the-scenes featurette, giving viewers a glimpse into the creative process, technology, and team behind the hit CBeebies musical The Great Ice Cream Hunt.
BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions worked closely with VERSA Studios, who partnered with Virtual Production specialists Immersion Science, to design and deliver the Virtual Production for the show, bringing the technology to CBeebies for the very first time. The new musical adventure, which also filmed at VERSA Studios in Manchester, blends the craft of traditional physical filmmaking with digital environments to create an imaginative and fully immersive storybook world.
Last week, the companies were shortlisted for Best Innovation Project at the Broadcast Tech Innovation Awards, recognising the ingenuity of the show’s production.
Building on the success of its predecessor, Christmas in Storyland, which was shot entirely on green screen, this production moves into a real-time, immersive storybook environment using Virtual Production. The new approach replaces the traditional green screen by projecting the digital environment onto giant screens around the performers. The performers interact directly with the world on set, while advanced camera-tracking technology synchronises the on-screen environment with the camera’s movements, creating seamless, dynamic shots in real time and in-camera.
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Natalie Bolton, production executive, BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions said: “With The Great Ice Cream Hunt, we set out to create a vibrant, immersive world that felt like a storybook come to life. Thanks to cutting-edge virtual production technology, we were able to bring fantastical locations like Mermaid Falls, The Ice Cream Farm and a Fruity Festival to the screen with stunning detail designed to ignite young imaginations. VP allowed us to blend live-action performances with richly animated environments creating a truly magical experience.”
Edward Harvey, head of studios at VERSA Manchester, added: “Working with BBC Studios Kids & Family and our partner Immersion Science to deliver this virtual production project was such a rewarding experience for us here at VERSA Studios. Seeing the production and performers embrace this new way of filmmaking has us excited for future collaborations that will inspire and engage audiences.”
Working closely with BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions, VERSA partnered with Virtual Production specialist Nathan Newman of Immersion Science to design and deliver the full Virtual Production solution. By uniting traditional production techniques with real-time digital worlds, the team created a unique format where physical performance and virtual storytelling meet seamlessly, placing children directly inside a magical, storybook environment like never before.
Speaking about his work on the programme, Newman said: “From the outset, we were keen to put the ‘virtual’ back into Virtual Production while embracing a stylised look for our youngest audiences. Through a wonderful collaboration with our partners, children’s illustration was seamlessly blended with production design, focusing on set extension depth, physical-to-virtual set integration, and achieving a crafted sense of heightened immersion for the world of Storyland. We are delighted with the result and proud to have guided BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions into the creative possibilities that Virtual Production brings to filmmakers.”
The Great Ice Cream Hunt is out now on BBC iPlayer.
