The Wheel of Time is one of the most popular and enduring fantasy series of all time, which has sold more than 90 million books worldwide. A new adaptation of the series starring Rosamund Pike is due to be released on Amazon Prime and so, the streaming service is backing the launch of the epic series with a live-action 3D illusion created by Amplify.

The illusion shown on the anamorphic billboard depicts a battle between the ‘Light’, Pike’s character Moraine, vs the ‘Dark’, an evil fade, commander of the dark army. The illusion sees the two appear to break out of the screen and into the world. The narrative is pulled together by the iconic figure of the Great Serpent which fans of the series will recognise.

“The Wheel of Time is a world full of diverse, exciting characters, storytelling and environments. A world which we wanted to build on, place the audience in the heart of, and then have break out into our reality. For the first time, we captured a live-action shoot with star Rosamund Pike, combining it with show quality VFX and bespoke 3D animation.” explained Alex Wilson, Executive Creative Director at Amplify, “In doing so, we have again broken the format of OOH 3D anamorphic illusions and brought The Wheel of Time to life for audiences like no show before.”

The illusion debuted in London’s Piccadilly Circus on 15 November and will also appear across iconic sites such as in New York City’s Big Kahuna in Times Square and Tokyo’s Cross Shinjuku Vision. Pike delivered separate performances for each location to maximise the extremity of the illusion.

The effect was filmed against a green screen and Pike’s hands were shot to create the effect of Moiriane channelling her powers then rebuilt in CGI. In creating the Fade, Amplify worked with the show's VFX teams at MPC and Amazon Studios, to harness the CGI model and animate it to break through into the world and deliver its scream. 

Prime Video hopes to deliver something never-before-seen with this OOH activity to introduce the series to as broad an audience as possible.