New York, NY -- New York-based independent design and VFX house, Phosphene, partnered with HBO for the third consecutive season of David Simon’s New Orleans-based “Treme. 

Phosphene Partner and VFX Executive Producer, Vivian Connolly, explained:  “In this kind of grounded, realistic, character driven drama, the visual effects challenge is always making sure the audience has no idea there are any VFX in the show.”

One example of “invisible” effects in season three involves the bulldozing of a practical New Orleans location established in previous episodes.  Production built and tore down a façade of the house on an empty lot. “The trick was to then seamlessly composite the destruction of the house into the practical location,” explained Visual Effects Producer, Lea Prainsack. 

Phosphene Lead Digital Artist/Visual Effects Supervisor Aaron Raff said: “We had to create and fill in what you would see behind the house, had it actually been torn down. The matte painting had to be integrated into an environment the audience was already very familiar with.” Phosphene Partner and Visual Effects Supervisor, John Bair, added:  “There was no margin for error or the audience would have been taken out of this important moment.”

When asked about her experience working with Phosphene, “Treme” Co-Producer, Jessica Levin said:  "Phosphene has been “Treme's” dedicated VFX partner for 3 complete seasons now.  Vivian Connolly, John Bair and their outstanding team are perfectionists who have never let us down. Their creative savvy, dedication and flexibility within budget constraints make them a dearly valued visual effects house for us.”

Phosphene utilized Nuke, 3ds Max with V-ray, Adobe Creative Suite, and PCs running Windows 7 64-bit in the execution of this project.

Source: Phosphene