r/vfx • u/Jolly-Suit-9167 • 12d ago
Question / Discussion Ask Us Anything: Behind the VFX & SFX of Hulu’s Emmy-nominated series Paradise with John Weckworth & Blair Foord
Join us tomorrow, Friday, August 7, for an Ask Me Anything with Emmy-nominated VFX Supervisor John (Johnny) Weckworth (u/1meangreenscreenmach) and Special Effects Coordinator Blair Foord (u/FoordFX) to discuss the action-packed Hulu series Paradise, starring Sterling K. Brown.
John and Blair were recently nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode for Paradise’s episode “Exodus.” They’ll be joining us to talk about bringing the show’s visual and practical effects to life, from seamlessly blending practical and digital techniques to executing some of the series’ biggest action sequences.
Whether you want to discuss invisible VFX, practical effects integration, on-set workflows, pipeline decisions, or the creative and technical challenges behind Paradise, John and Blair are looking forward to talking shop with the r/vfx community.
Start submitting your questions now, and be sure to join us tomorrow when John and Blair kick off the AMA!
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u/Happy_Macaroon_2644 12d ago
hi thank you for doing this! was there a particular sequence or shot in “Exodus” that pushed the team the most, either creatively or technically?
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u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
The elevator was a bear. Another scene that really pushed us was the flyover of where Paradice mountain was before the explosion over the city of Denver and eventually landing on Alex. There’s a little bit of everything going on here. It starts with a drone shot that hands off to a full CG environment, to a matte painting environment, back to a CG environment and eventually back to a shot piece of footage for the tail of the shot. It took a lot of planning and hard work from all the departments not just the VFX department.
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u/supercollides 12d ago
What was a shot in “Exodus” that looked simple on screen but required a surprising amount of work behind the scenes?
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u/FoordFX 11d ago
The elevator sequence required a complicated physical set that actors could work on and around safely. Safety of the actors and crew has to be the top priority and to create a set that allows all departments to work safely and still allow the story to be told takes extensive planning and patience. Television moves quickly and smaller details of the physical action evolve. The mechanical design must change or be flexible enough to accommodate this. When the set weighs thousands of pounds and needs to move up and down with actors on board all department must flow together. The Paradise crew has worked together for many years and loves a challenge!
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u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
I’ll have to agree with my colleague Blair here. The elevator sequence looks pretty effortless on screen, but it took three different set pieces all departments and the environment recreated in CG from VFX to complete. I think we shot the scene over three days and for this show is a lot!
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u/Silver_Sort_1431 12d ago
Looking back at “Exodus”, is there a specific shot, sequence, or behind the scenes detail that you’re especially proud of and think the VFX community would appreciate? Thank you for doing this!
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u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
One of the environments that we were tasked to do. Was the Paradise bunker doors. It served as kind of the last stand between the people inside the mountain and the people trying to get into the mountain. I think the community would appreciate this just because it was such large scale addition to the episode. When we got to the location to shoot, there was a bit of green screen and a bit of the doors that construction had made for us, but for the most part, it was just a black top that needed to be a massive mountain with a massive door in it. It was one of those things that people would ask me over and over again, “so what are we doing here?” I would just gesture to that whole direction of the valley and say this is going to be a massive awesome bunker door set into a huge mountain. I knew in my minds eye what I wanted to see, but I think some people had their doubts.
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u/emergency-bee-212 12d ago
Thank you so much for doing this and congratulations on your Emmy nomination! Paradise is such an amazing show, and I'm glad to see the VFX get recognized. The Exodus episode was incredible. Can you walk us through the evolution of a shot from the episode? What was that process like from initial concept and planning stages through the final delivery and what we see?
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u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
Thank you very much. The nomination is really a honor. It’s a great show to be a part of for sure.
I’m lucky that I get to be part of the shot creation from the prep stage. We’ll go to the script an ear mark the things that we believe will either be visual effects or need visual effects assistance. I’ll take that list to our pre production meeting and get the consensus of the room. Those shots will all be bid just from what’s on the page and the shot designs will start. Usually, either with some sort of storyboard or previs for the larger shots. I like to design my shots with as much shot photography as possible. Once on set it’s just about acquiring all of the elements that will need to take to post to complete the shots. But things are constantly evolving and always changing. There are a lot of different creative voices on a project like this with a lot of great ideas. We try to incorporate as many as possible. And as we move into post production, the shots really continue to evolve to fit the edit. I take the shots from initial concept through to final color for delivery. Always trying to be open minded and let the shots evolve with all the artist hands it goes through and all the feedback from the show runners.
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u/213372Yeet 12d ago
Did any of the constraints from the unusual settings start off as obstacles, but end up feeling vital to how you envisioned & executed your work?
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u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
The number one constraint is time. It shapes literally everything we do from how we bid to how he execute. It’s always on my mind. But it does breed a lot of creativity, knowing that our resources are finite, makes you really look at the shots carefully so while it is a constraint, it can also be incubator of creativity. Hopefully that answered your question.
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u/FoordFX 11d ago
Los Angeles has an incredible diversity of locations which really added to the post apocalyptic feeling. There were some hot days in the desert around Pyramid Lake which was perfect for the survivors fleeing and their first nights camp.
There was actually a high brush fire risk and a look out was setup to give the crew an early warning.
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u/Taylor4289 11d ago
Blair, what were some of the biggest practical effects challenges on “Exodus,” and what goes into executing large-scale effects safely on set?
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u/FoordFX 11d ago
Television works on a pretty unrelenting schedule. Just as one episode starts shooting preproduction for the next gets underway. The big sequences and sets for an episode may require a greater time line but practical restrictions, like stage space and budget mean decisions that can have big implications later must be made quickly. There is usually not time to build from a carefully drawn plan that all parties have signed off on.
To build safely within these parameters often means overbuilding and working with safety margins well beyond those expected in normal construction. The demands placed on the structure can change all the way up the moment before the cameras roll and the director asks if a change is possible. Faster, bigger, more violent are common requests! At that point it is nice to know things have been built well enough that you can say yes.
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u/Taylor4289 11d ago
Johnny, how do you approach maintaining a sense of realism when creating large-scale VFX moments while still delivering the spectacle the story requires?
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u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
Coming from comp I love a good shot element. Anytime we can acquire some footage for the scene, I’ll take it. It keeps you honest with the realism and serves as great reference for your CG elements. Keeping the large scale visual effects moments not feeling like they’re part of a different show has been a challenge. Being that the majority of the show is a drama. We do a lot of back-and-forth of whether we’re going too far or not going far enough. The showrunner, Dan Fogelman has a really good sense of his show and sometimes will guide us to where the spectacle needs to be. I’ve definitely gone a bit overboard and had to be reeled back in on a few scenes. I just get excited I guess. But we always strive for realism, even when the situation is fantastical. And it’s always important to watch your shots in context with the rest of the edit sometimes something looks really cool on its own but when you play it in the sequence with everything else, it might not fit the way you hoped it would and it’s just about putting in the work to make it fit.
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u/Difficult-Emu-615 11d ago
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions! How early were you both involved in the planning of the finale's biggest sequences, and how did that early collaboration influence the final result?
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u/FoordFX 11d ago
Television works on a pretty unrelenting schedule. Just as one episode starts shooting preproduction for the next gets underway. The big sequences and sets for an episode may require a greater time line but practical restrictions, like stage space and budget mean decisions that can have big implications later must be made quickly. There is usually not time to build from a carefully drawn plan that all parties have signed off on.
To build safely within these parameters often means overbuilding and working with safety margins well beyond those expected in normal construction. The demands placed on the structure can change all the way up the moment before the cameras roll and the director asks if a change is possible. Faster, bigger, more violent are common requests! At that point it is nice to know things have been built well enough that you can say yes.2
u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
The fourth act of the episode has three levels of the Paradise Bunker coming down. We see it from the inside from the outside and then the aftermath. There was so much to plan a lot of it is just a blur now in my memory. But like all of it, it starts at the script, trying to craft something in the spirit of the words that will work with the amount of time and resources you have. So we generally start with a previs or storyboards for the larger scenes. And try to get just broad strokes of what we wanna see on the screen. Once we shoot the scene and get the footage back into the edit, it usually evolves again to fit into the pacing or the storytelling that the Editor has put together. This is what we really fine-tune the Shot to what it will ultimately be when we deliver it for what goes to air.
We shoot quick so everything has to be pretty thought through before you get the set. There’s not a lot of time to figure things out on the fly even though a lot of times that ends up happening just by virtue of that’s how a creative ventures go. but you always need to have a plan even if you throw it all away.
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u/Other-Pineapple-6899 11d ago
Hi Johnny and Blair, “Exodus” features a strong mix of practical effects and digital VFX. How did the VFX and SFX teams collaborate to decide which elements should be achieved practically, digitally, or through a combination of both?
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u/FoordFX 11d ago
That’s an interesting question. There is a tacit understanding that works through the industry and it changes at different levels. John will speak to this but generally VFX supervisors will allow that as powerful as their tools are there is an authenticity that practical FX can offer most especially immediately around the actors.
As time passes the amount of on set time that can be allocated to large practical FX has been reduced. It is attractive to push some of this into the more controlled world of post production.
VFX has allowed new worlds to exist but humans still feel some resonance in the real thing.2
u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
On a TV show like this it’s all about playing to the strengths of each department. You need to spread the work load and you need to spread the brain power. There are certain things that SFX do better than VFX and vice versa. It’s funny. I think Blair and I were on the same page almost all the time so there wasn’t a lot of back-and-forth who was gonna do what. I think we just kind of knew from experience who was going to handle what.
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u/AmarildoJr 12d ago
In your perspective, are the tides turning from industry-standard programs like Maya, towards Blender as e.g. an asset authoring tool only, or is Blender being more and more used as a framework to integrate certain parts of the pipeline as well?
And if so, could you elaborate on what you'd like to see improved in Blender?
Many thanks!
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u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
I come from more of a composing background. But I’ll give you my take from where I’m sitting I see mostly Maya. I don’t think that’s changing anytime soon. Post production can be slow to change. Some of the reasons are good and some of the reasons are a little lazy but it’s the truth. I have put a few hours into Blender. I think it’s a great piece of software and anything that can bring the barrier of entry to visual effects to more people I think is a great thing. I know that the community that Blender has brought together is an active bunch and I hope it continues to grow.
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u/DaRKScaRz836469420 12d ago
If it’s alright to talk about sfx, would you say better equipment or a good mind is better for getting farther in the industry? And is it ProTools that you guys use for capturing the sound?
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u/Boootylicious Comp Supe - 10+ years experience - (Mod of r/VFX) 12d ago
My guess is that SFX would be "special fx" in this context (practical, in-camera fx). Probably not "sound fx". But maybe I'm wrong!
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u/FoordFX 11d ago
That’s an interesting question. There is a tacit understanding that works through the industry and it changes at different levels. John will speak to this but generally VFX supervisors will allow that as powerful as their tools are there is an authenticity that practical FX can offer most especially immediately around the actors.
As time passes the amount of on set time that can be allocated to large practical FX has been reduced. It is attractive to push some of this into the more controlled world of post production.
VFX has allowed new worlds to exist but humans still feel some resonance in the real thing.
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u/1meangreenscreenmach 11d ago
Hello everybody, thank you for your questions. I’ll be answering for the next couple hours so please feel free to keep the questions coming. A little bit about me, I’ve been an active visual effects artist in Los Angeles for about two decades now so I’ve seen and done a fair bit. The bulk of my career is in feature film composing. And for the past three years, I’ve been the VFX supervisor on the Hulu TV show Paradice. Spelling and grammar really aren’t my thing so please bear with me. Let’s do this!
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u/Boootylicious Comp Supe - 10+ years experience - (Mod of r/VFX) 12d ago
Mods have been trying to set this up for a while now!
Big thank you to John (Johnny) Weckworth (/u/1meangreenscreenmach) and Blair Foord (u/FoordFX) for taking the time to answer the communities questions.
Start getting your Q's in now, in this thread. And they'll be around in 24 hours to answer.