How the team brought iconic characters to seamless life with the help of Silhouette's roto and paint tools.
The Montreal-based team at Framestore is currently Emmy nominated for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in A Season or a Movie for their work on Fallout (Prime Video).
Leave The Vault and discover the invisible visual effects world behind the wickedly strange, hyper-violent, yet gleeful post-apocalyptic series. Nominee Joao Sita (VFX Supervisor) and Yavor Asenov (Head of Paint and Roto) band together to chat about what it was like to work on season one and how they turned to Boris FX Silhouette to tackle complex rotoscoping and paint work.
Congrats to the team on being Emmy-nominated for your work on Fallout! How does it feel to be nominated?
Sita: Thank you so much! Itโs fantastic, and I am thrilled to be nominated and to be able to represent all the Framestore artists who have worked across various departments and sites. It is a high-quality and very competitive category. Itโs great to have our work recognized by the industry.
What type of VFX did you and the team handle during the season?
Sita: Framestore was responsible for the character work for the Gulper and Yao Guai and all the work associated with those characters to complete the shots, from the concept work at the early stages done by our Art Department in London to the final asset build and shot execution split between our London and Montreal studios.
It was great to work on a project that allowed for such a wide range of work and bring those characters to life โ integrating it so seamlessly into the plates.
Credit: Framestore and Prime Video
You rely on Boris FX Silhouette in your workflow. Why is it essential for your roto and paint artists to have access to Silhouette?
Asenov: Boris FX Silhouette is an integral part of our Paint and Roto workflows and is fully integrated into our Film & Episodic divisionโs pipeline. Itโs the tool used on every shot, which requires prep work. From the early stage on the project we are very often tasked with the preparation of rough roto mattes (internally called โblock rotoโ), which are used for creating the first passes.
Further, in the shot development, all the required roto for animation integration, environments, etc., is solely done with Silhouette. Its data management, flexibility, and intuitive spline control are priceless for artist productivity and speed.
What areas of Silhouette were used on the season?
Asenov: Silhouette was used on all the Paint and Roto tasks we had for Fallout (season one). Numerous roto mattes were created for the Gulper integration in episode 3. Some shots required a complex character/cloth reconstruction, and frame-by-frame painting was inevitable. Thatโs where Silhouette really shines with the ability to create custom reference frame presets, proper onion skin functionality, image caching, recorded strokes, etc. The overall control of the artistsโ workflows within Silhouette and the Mocha integration is of great value in a production pipeline with tight deadlines and high-quality expectations.
Credit: Framestore and Prime Video
What was the biggest VFX challenge you faced?
Sita: Working with the Gulper both in the water and on land presented an interesting challenge due to its surroundings. Timing the gulping action while trying to swallow Thaddeus and managing the volume in the throat, all while the fingers inside the mouth executed the hold and pull action, required careful coordination. The water simulation, driven by animation with multiple layers to merge seamlessly with the live-action plate, took many iterations to perfect. The goal was to achieve not only the correct dynamics but also a visually convincing look.
The challenges also included integrating Yao Guai with the Power Armor during the mauling scenes, as Yao Guai pulled and pushed him around on the ground. This required precise tracking and finding an animation performance that not only aligned with the live-action performance but also heightened the sense of danger and peril.
Credit: Framestore and Prime Video
Which scene/shot was your favorite to work on/most proud of, and why?
Sita: I love the top-down shot of the Gulper reaching out to Lucy on the pier, as well as the scenes with the Gulper gulping Thaddeus. The first one, featuring Lucy and the Gulper, was where we started the FX simulations earlier, and it was where most of our setup was completed. It was great to see the progression of the work between FX and lighting and the fine-tuning needed to integrate everything with the character. The sunlit nature of the shot and the plate reflections blending seamlessly with our work really motivated everyone to go above and beyond during dailies.
For the shot of the Gulper gulping Thaddeus, it was all about the flow of work between departments. Watching the initial idea gradually evolve into a truly frightening scene was incredible. Adding the fingers inside the Gulperโs mouth was like the cherry on top, making the character even creepier. Big kudos to the entire team for pushing through these shots and maintaining a high level of detail and engagement, reflected in the beautiful final result.
