Pixomondo Vancouver's VFX breakdown reel for Apple TV's See really rocks
Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2019 00:05:44 +0000
The Vancouver-shot Apple TV original series See stars Alfre Woodard and Jason Momoa. It premiered on the streaming platform on Nov. 1. The story follows a society in a distant future where the human race has lost the sense of sight and what happens when two twins are born who can see.
The Vancouver office of Pixomondo recently released a visual-effects reel to showcase a scene in the first episode of See. Pixomondo VFX supervisor Matthew Welford commented on the work that was done for the key scene in the VFX reel.
“In Episode One, we encounter a giant battle of two of the warring tribes when an army of Witchfinders attacks the village of Alkenny. After a bloody and gruesome fight, Baba Voss (Jason Momoa) is forced to unleash the final line of defence before his tribe is overrun,” said Welford. “This means causing a rock-wall avalanche down the side of the mountainside.”
Pixomondo’s Vancouver division scanned the actual hillside location before practical photography commenced.
“Then we recreated a fully CG rock wall made up of thousands of individual rocks, mud, plates and debris,” said Welford.
“We used FX simulation to accurately recreate how those rocks (which he had scanned earlier) would actually roll down the hillside. It was necessary to make sure the rocks interacted with both the world around them, and actors within the scene, for the final shots.”
“The final shots comprised of CGI rocks, digital humans, digital plants, digital debris all integrated with the live-action actors and plates shot on location.”
It’s a pretty fascinating process to watch. Once again, it’s hard to tell where the real and the created come together as Vancouver’s VFX expertise continues to amaze.