“He gives us the freedom to try new things and always provides great feedback and is very appreciative. There are times when he will provide very specific references for shots, but overall it was constantly just pushing us to go bigger,” describes Witsken.” “Andrew (Ceperley) understands visual effects deeply, which makes the whole process enjoyable,” notes White. “A lot of the effects for the show involve violence. It’s a very visceral show. There’s one shot we worked on last season that stands out; it’s of a guy getting thrown in front of a plane propeller. I cancelled lunch that day.”

IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS

Artists at Ghost VFX’s Los Angeles location handled about 30 shots per episode, though many of the shots were intricate and extremely involving. Houdini was used for effects shots and Golaem for a few shots featuring large crowds of people. The FX work mainly consisted of dust, smoke, fire, bullet wounds, blood, and gunshot to help bring the violent world of the drug wars alive. The opening sequence in Episode 1 used a 1/5 scale model of a small plane crashing and was shot in Mexico. In post, Ghost VFX painted out of the rigging and added propellers and smoke, and did all the effects – dust, dirt, debris, and also recreated parts of the plane in CG for a couple of the shots. The mix of practical and CG resulted in a very realistic action sequence.