TORONTO — Spin VFX (www.spinvfx.com) recently provided VFX for the Syfy network drama The Expanse. The studio has created visual effects for over 75 features and 15 television series, including Emmy award-winning work on HBO’s
Game of Thrones. More recently, Spin completed work on Tim Kring’s dramatic fantasy mini-series
Heroes Reborn for NBC.
Set a few hundred years in the future, on the eve of a possible war between Earth and Mars, The Expanse centers around a detective’s search for a missing heiress in space, coinciding with the destruction of a freighter carrying much needed ice between inhabited planets.
“We all loved the novels and when approached with the opportunity to bring the story alive on screen we knew it would be a profoundly rewarding challenge,” says Neishaw Ali, president and VFX EP. “We thank the writers, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck for creating that possibility, along with Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove, Sean Daniels, Naren Shankar, Ben Roberts, and their teams for their exceptional creativity and passion. Special thank you to Bob Munroe, for his inspiring leadership and compelling vision that continues to push our talented team.”
Spin delivered over 400 shots for the 10 episode inaugural season. Working collaboratively with production VFX supervisor Bob Munroe, VFX supervisor Kyle Menzies, and VFX producer JP Giamos, the studio’s artists fleshed out creative sequences from concept development and storyboarding to completion. They realized complex 3D environments for Medina, Midtown and Eros as well as animation and digital effects for the mysterious, and pivotal, Protomolecule.
The Protomolecule sequences included its initial teaser in the season opener, complex animation and digital effects for the advanced form of the Protomolecule for the live reactor in the Anubis drive core, enhancing practical make-up and SPFX detailing it’s horrific infection of the inhabitants of Eros, and the final reveal of the nearly fully evolved version to close out the season.
“The Expanse is one of those shows that ignites our passion in the visual effects industry,” says Kyle Menzies, VFX supervisor. “It was energizing to work side by side creatively with Naren Shankar and Bob Munroe to realize a riveting, and realistic near future – a glimpse of where humanity might very well be in a few hundred years…although, hopefully without the marauding alien entity and the threat of interplanetary war! We’re truly grateful for the experience.”
Spin also provided on-set location capture and 3D body scanning services exclusively for the series while shooting in Toronto. The studio’s 12-camera photogrammetry system was used for actors’ head and full body scans as well as key props. The Civetta camera system captured HDRI and photogrammetry of select sets and locations. The studio now offers full scanning services from capture to digital realization.