1923

1923 Season 2

HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED WITH THE 1923 UNIVERSE?
It actually started a while ago. Our Bogotá studio had already worked on 1883 and the first season of 1923, so we had an established relationship with the production. When season two came along, it felt like a natural continuation. We already had some assets and familiarity with the look and workflow, so we weren’t starting from scratch.

WERE YOU PERSONALLY INVOLVED ON 1883 AND 1923?
I was a lead artist on 1883. I didn’t work on the first season of 1923, but our Compositing Supervisor, Jonny Munevar, led that one with Nicholas Seal as VFX Supervisor. For season two, I had the opportunity to step into the VFX Supervisor role.

 HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT TAKING ON THE ROLE?
I’ve been a fan of the series since 1883, so I was really excited, but also a little nervous. The bar had already been set high by the previous season, and I knew I had to match that level of quality. But after our first meeting with Mike Brazelton, the client-side VFX Supervisor, I felt reassured. He’s super easygoing and collaborative.

“The bar had already been set high by the previous season, and I knew I had to match that level of quality. But after our first meeting with Mike Brazelton, the client-side VFX Supervisor, I felt reassured. He’s super easygoing and collaborative.”

WHAT DID YOUR TEAM STRUCTURE LOOK LIKE FOR THIS SEASON?
We kept some continuity from the previous season. Jonny Munevar returned as Compositing Supervisor, and I joined this season as the VFX Supervisor. Antonio Mendoza came on board as our CG Supervisor, and Lina Gordillo as our Producer. In terms of artists, there were changes based on availability, but we made sure to have at least one senior artist on every episode to handle the most complex shots. 

HOW DID YOU APPROACH CREATING VISUALS THAT FIT THE 1923 TIME PERIOD?
Interestingly, most of the environments were already dressed for the era during production, so we didn’t have to do much period correction, except for one sequence on a train. That required us to remove modern elements and add historical ones to match the look of the time. The biggest challenge was actually adding snow. The production was expecting snowfall during the shoot but didn’t get it. So we stepped in to digitally add snow, especially on the landscape and the mansion's rooftop. The work was subtle, but very effective.

 WERE YOU GIVEN CREATIVE GUIDELINES FOR THE SNOW SEQUENCES?
Yes, Mike shared references from previous seasons to guide us. One key area was recreating the Bitterroot Mountains, an asset we had already worked on. We had strong visual references to make sure everything stayed consistent with the look of the show.

WHAT WAS THE MOST COMPLEX SHOT YOU WORKED ON?
The elk sequence in episode one was definitely a complex and demanding challenge. While it wasn’t our first time building creatures -Nicholas and David had created a giraffe and a group of antelopes for an establishing shot in Season 1- it was still a huge learning experience for our studio. We put a lot of effort into the modeling, texturing, and animation to make it look believable. 

WHO WERE YOUR KEY COLLABORATORS?
We had great support from other FOLKS teams. Amélie Goursat from Montreal helped us a lot with grooming the elk fur. She had experience from another creature build and adapted it for us with a great eye for detail. Gabriel Beauvais, our creature lead, was essential early in the process. He guided us through anatomical details and modeling techniques that really elevated the quality. We also worked closely with the team in Mumbai. They helped with digital matte painting, especially for the snowy mansion shots. We created a base setup for the snow, and they used our recipe to apply it across about 17–18 shots. The results were fantastic.

 ARE YOU HOPING TO RETURN FOR FUTURE PROJECTS IN THE YELLOWSTONE UNIVERSE?
Yes! We’d love to be involved. We’ve built a strong relationship with the clients. They’ve been generous in trusting us with more work each season, and that means a lot. We’re really hoping for more, because it’s the kind of project that pushes us technically and creatively.

“We’ve built a strong relationship with the clients. They’ve been generous in trusting us with more work each season, and that means a lot. We’re really hoping for more, because it’s the kind of project that pushes us technically and creatively.”

 IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR WORK THAT MIGHT SURPRISE PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY?
Yes, that snowy mansion sequence is a great example. When you compare the original plate with the final shot, it's like night and day. The original was full of autumn leaves and dry trees. We had to digitally remove the leaves, rebuild the trees, and add snow on everything. But when you see the final version, you’d never guess it was all fake.

OUR DEDICATED TEAM

The visual effects in '1923' were made possible by the talent and dedication of our team at FOLKS, led by:

VFX Supervisor | Alejandro Velasco
VFX Producer | Lina Gordillo

VFX Supervisor | Brian Kubovcik
VFX Producer | Navi Atwater

1923 Season 1