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Goodbye Kansas Shares ‘See’ Season 3 VFX Breakdown Reel

Studio delivers 50 shots that include CG characters, digital water and explosions, plus set and crowd extensions on Apple TV+’s Emmy Award-winning post-apocalyptic dystopian drama.

Apple TV+’s Emmy Award-winning drama See, starring Jason Momoa, takes place in a post-apocalyptic dystopia where humankind has lost the ability to see, and society has adapted to find new ways to survive. Goodbye Kansas Studios was tapped to provide visual effects for Season 3 – 50 shots were delivered, which helped elevate the show’s drama and visual impact.

The award-winning studio boasted a team of more than 84 artists, technicians, and supervisors across FX, lighting, motion-capture, and production departments. VFX Supervisor Felipe Borges and FX Lead Martin Widö led the production, which ranged from CG characters and environments to set and crowd extension and various digital explosions used in complex narrative sequences.

In the main battle sequence, Goodbye Kansas created CG assets used in combat, as well as crowd work and set extensions.

“We developed digital explosions to a level of detail that they truly blend into the tangible authentic environment, along with water that reacts with these explosions,” explained Widö. “We also developed digital characters and crowds to behave and interact with the surrounding environments. In some shots, we had all of these together.”

For the team, the biggest challenge was bringing together the different CG elements into one shot to create seamless battle sequences. The Goodbye Kansas team incorporated CG digital characters alongside 40-50 filmed extras to create the scene of hundreds of soldiers in battle.

Martin continued, “You have extras that were there with proper costume, but our CGI version of the soldiers needed to stand side by side and be able to blend. And we were able to achieve that. Ensuring all of the elements out of computer graphics blending into place is always a challenge.”

Goodbye Kansas also harnessed the capabilities of its in-house motion-capture facility to achieve accuracy within the shots.

“We used motion-capture to get the most accurate movements,” noted Borges. “We incorporated professional stunts into our motion capture soundstage, capturing different types of performances and reactions to explosions using wire rigs.”

See Season 3 aired on August 26, 2022.

Watch Goodbye Kansas Studios’ See Season 3 VFX Breakdown:

Source: Goodbye Kansas Studios

Debbie Diamond Sarto's picture

Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.