TV Series
The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2
Framestore
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For the highly-anticipated second season of AMC's The Walking Dead: Dead City, our team of artists in NY led by VFX Supervisor Steve Drew, delivered atmospheric, high-impact VFX, crafting foreboding digital environments, explosive action, and creature effects.
For two standout episodes, we crafted crucial enhancements that elevated both the scale and atmosphere of the show’s most dramatic sequences. Our work was centered in episode two, where we digitally extended a practical boat set, created CG explosions—including the boat’s complete destruction—and built a hauntingly realistic digital Hudson River and 2010-era Manhattan skyline. This also included building booby-trapped buoy mines, a dinghy, digidoubles, and extensive fog layers to convey a sense of isolation and suspense. In episode eight, our team focused on fire and smoke simulations and visceral prosthetic makeup enhancements to support a key character’s grisly demise.
To bring these sequences to life, we embraced the challenges of low-light, night-time environments on water. Using Open Street Maps data, we charted realistic paths for the boat, removed post-2010 buildings, and held live previs sessions with the client to fine-tune camera work and guide our DMP artists. Custom Houdini tools were developed to generate screen-space uniform ocean grids, multi-resolution fog banks, and organically growing vines around the Statue of Liberty.
As with any shoot utilizing live pyrotechnics and atmosphere, the blue screens were affected by shifting light and various obstructions. Some of the trickier shots combined digital elements like distant city DMPs, CG water and fog, and partial set extensions, layered over practical fire, smoke, and even extinguisher blasts, sometimes filmed through rain-streaked glass. It all came together thanks to the collaboration between our compositing and CG teams who ensured seamless integration with the stunning practical SFX work.
CREW
VFX: Framestore
VFX Supervisor: Steve Drew
VFX Producer: Emily Williamson
VFX Coordinator: Casey Spillane
2D Supervisor: Sebastien Boulange
3D Supervisor: Shawn Lipowski
Client Credits
VFX Supervisor: Aaron McLane
VFX Producer: Jamie Cernich
VFX Coordinator: Megan Hart
SOFTWARE
Flame Maya Houdini Nuke