Christmas Karma is a modern reimagining of “A Christmas Carol.” The hard-nosed businessman, Mr. Sood, is forced to confront his past, present and future one fateful Christmas Eve - guided by three unforgettable spirits. The film stars Kunal Nayyar, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Boy George, Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter and Eva Longoria.
For director Gurinder Chadha, Christmas Karma was an opportunity to move away from the familiar Dickens aesthetic., The film presents a world that feels more contemporary and visually ambitious. That shift extended to the story’s most recognizable figure, Jacob Marley. Rather than portraying Marley through traditional makeup or prosthetics, Chadha chose to make him a fully-digital character. Shackled in chains and dragging heavy safes behind him, Marley needed to feel physically expressive and unsettling, yet still emotionally grounded. Achieving that balance was the central challenge of Dimension’s character development work.
Hugh Bonneville’s performance was captured through motion capture and detailed scanning. That data then formed the foundation of the digital character. A team of around ten specialists worked on Marley’s development over approximately five months. The scope of work covered full character creation, mocap retargeting and animation polish, supported by a pipeline that moved between Unreal Engine and Maya.
"This hybrid approach allowed the team to balance realtime responsiveness with the level of control and detail needed for a high-quality digital human," explains Ozan Akgun (pictured), a virtual production producer at Dimension Studio (https://dimensionstudio.co), which has location in London and Rome, as well as a mobile unit. "Much of the realism came down to the smallest components. Eyes, teeth, tongue, beard, eyelashes, and hair were all built individually, each playing a role in maintaining recognizability."
Hair grooming, says Akgun, remains one of the most challenging aspects of realtime character development.
"Finding a look that felt natural, expressive and technically viable required careful refinement. Throughout this stage, the emphasis remained on the 'human elements' of the character. Even as Marley’s appearance became increasingly otherworldly, it was vital that audiences could still recognize Hugh beneath the spooky outer layer."
Another creative challenge was deciding how far to push Marley’s ghostly aesthetic. Early iterations explored more overtly horror-driven designs, including skull-like transitions when Marley grew angry, ghostly bone structures beneath translucent skin, and a range of hair grooms — from full and disheveled to increasingly sparse.
"While these concepts proved visually striking, some were ultimately toned down to maintain the film’s PG rating,” Akgun reveals. "The final design portrays Marley’s suffering and supernatural nature without overwhelming the audience."
Director Gurinder Chadha remained closely involved throughout the development process, providing precise, emotion-focused notes.
"She remembered the nuances of the performance she had directed on the mocap stage and wanted that same emotional truth reflected in the digital character," says Akgun. "Her response upon seeing Marley animated — 'I can see Hugh in his eyes' — became a defining moment for the team, confirming that the balance between stylization and performance had been achieved."
Dimension delivered the final look-development and animation across 34 shots to the project’s VFX vendor, who completed cloth and chain simulations and final renders. The result is a Jacob Marley who feels both recognizable and newly imagined. A digital ghost shaped as much by performance and collaboration as by technology.