The Boys (2019 TV series) Visual Effects Breakdowns

The Boys (2019 TV series) Visual Effects Breakdowns

The Boys is an American superhero web television series based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Developed by Eric Kripke for Amazon, it follows the titular team of vigilantes as they fight back against superpowered people who abuse their abilities.

The series premiered on July 26, 2019. Ahead of the premiere, Amazon renewed The Boys for a second season.

The Boys VFX by DNEG

‘The Boys’ is a new Amazon superhero drama series based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The show was developed by Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, and Seth Rogen. DNEG was a key VFX partner on the show, delivering an array of VFX work across the series with three heroes – Queen Maeve, Homelander and A-Train – each with their own specific super hero talent and VFX challenges, from flying capes, to laser eyes and super speed running. DNEG developed all of these hero’s signature FX looks.

The Boys VFX by Framestore

Framestore has been responsible for putting some of cinema’s biggest heroes on the big screen so when it came to bringing the comic book series’ line-up of characters and their powers to life, Amazon Prime Video was in safe hands with Framestore’s artists. The creative studio worked with the series’ Production VFX Supervisor Stephan Fleet on VFX work that’s featured in several key sequences in both the series’ pilot and finale and features a wide scope of effects.

For the series’ opening scene, Framestore created a digi-double of Queen Maeve, a member of the series’ famous ‘Seven’ superhero group as she leaps over a car crash of several digitally-replaced police vehicles and stops a hi-jacked bank truck with her body. As Queen Maeve tears through the armoured vehicle, the VFX team needed to add some incredibly detailed debris that flies through the air in super slow motion.

‘While they are about superheroes, Ennis and Robertson’s graphic novels are much more grounded in reality than the high-concept superheroes we’re used to seeing adapted for the big screen. With that in mind, we wanted our effects to reflect that by being more believable and having a certain level of realism to them,’ said Pedro Sabrosa, VFX Supervisor at Framestore. ‘The big challenge in this sequence was adding CG elements to live action footage shot at a high frame rate because you don’t have anywhere to hide; our work needed to be flawless.’

Framestore also delivered effects for a key fight sequence featuring the superpowers of Starlight, a hero with the ability to shoot blinding light from her hands. The nature of this power meant that it could only be realised using VFX and in designing it, Sabrosa and his team went through several stages of complicated visualisation which also included enlisting the talents of Framestore’s art department to help bring the power to life.

‘The biggest challenge with visualising Starlight’s powers on-screen was realising the impact it had on the wider environment, something that saw the team needing to re-light large portions of the scene,’ added Pedro. ‘This sequence again featured lots of slow motion shots for which the team needed to strike a balance between creating realistic in-scene lighting and producing something that had a good-looking aesthetic.’

‘Episodic programming is in a really interesting growth period, both in the ambition of content producers and the expectations of audiences. The high-quality of content available on streaming services like Amazon Prime Video means our television team is continually delivering sequences that wouldn’t be out of place in big-budget films,’ said Christopher Gray, Executive Producer for Television at Framestore. This is an important area for Framestore and one that’s exciting to be at the heart of as the department continues to deliver the highest-quality effects to some of the biggest names in episodic programming.’

The Boys is just one of several episodic projects on this year’s slate for Framestore’s television team. Following a fan premiere at SDCC, the series is now available on Amazon Prime Video.

Creators: Evan Goldberg, Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen
Release Date: 26 July 2019 (Amazon Prime)

The Production VFX Supervisor: Stephan Fleet

The VFX are made by:
DNEG TV (VFX Supervisor: Michael Enriquez)
Framestore
Folks VFX (VFX Supervisor: Sébastien Bergeron)
Mavericks VFX (VFX Supervisor: Brendan Taylor)
Method Studios (VFX Supervisor: Sean Schur)
Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies VFX (VFX Supervisor: Tristan Zerafa)
Mr. X (VFX Supervisor: Scott Riopelle)
Pixomondo (VFX Supervisor: Mihaela Orzea)
Rocket Science VFX
Rodeo FX
Soho VFX (VFX Supervisor: Keith Sellers)

For more info:

Official IMDB Page of The Boys