When Fox & Wizard was called in during early pre-production for Spooksoeker, we knew this project would be ambitious. The team at Starscape Motion Pictures was excited about their new supernatural series, but they faced a major challenge—executing a massive volume of VFX shots on a tight budget.
Pre-Production: Laying the Groundwork
Jonathan Alenskas and Corlia Ohlson De Fine dove into the scripts and quickly realized that the VFX workload was even larger than anticipated. Working closely with the production team, we strategized ways to reduce the shot count without compromising on visual impact, carefully balancing cost, complexity, and volume.
Early test shots and concept work proved essential. By locking down visual treatments early on, we helped producers and key creatives develop a clear understanding of what the VFX would look like and what needed to be achieved on set. The collaboration was fantastic—everyone was eager for input and committed to making the process as smooth as possible.
One of our key innovations was planning a dedicated VFX test shoot, similar to how productions run makeup and wardrobe tests. This became an invaluable training opportunity, equipping the crew with essential techniques to optimize on-set execution.
We also worked closely with the post-production team handling dailies and media, refining the workflow, turnovers, and delivery process to ensure a seamless pipeline from shoot to final comp.
Production: Fast, Efficient, and Precise
The shoot itself was intense, with rapid turnarounds and a packed schedule. Thanks to our early script breakdowns, test work, and on-set training, everyone knew exactly what was needed. The result? High-quality material delivered exactly as planned, making post-production significantly more efficient.
Post-Production: A Fusion-Driven Workflow
For compositing, we relied entirely on Blackmagic Fusion Studio, which proved to be the perfect tool for the job. One of the biggest challenges was handling smoke simulations, which needed to be both dynamic and efficient. To speed up our workflow, we turned to LightWave 3D 2024 with its native TurbulenceFD plugin. This allowed us to generate gaseous simulations quickly and export them as VDB files, seamlessly integrating them into Fusion using the USD uVolume node—a relatively new feature at the time, but one that proved invaluable.
Rendering and lighting smoke directly in Fusion eliminated long 3D render times and heavy storage requirements, keeping our pipeline agile. We also used Blender for additional 3D elements and dynamic simulations, while DaVinci Resolve handled editing, QC, and final delivery. Painting tasks were split between Photoshop and Affinity.
A key aspect of our workflow was flexibility—our artists were free to use the software they were most comfortable with for specific tasks, ensuring maximum efficiency while keeping Fusion at the core of our compositing process.
A Team Effort
None of this would have been possible without the incredible talent and dedication of the Fox & Wizard team:
VFX Team
VFX Supervisor – Jonathan Alenskas
VFX Producer – Corlia Ohlson De FineVFX
Assistant – Barry Vorster
Digital Compositors
Anastasia Brodina
Raymond Volker
Megan Bagshaw
Bringing Spooksoeker to life was an unforgettable experience, and we’re immensely proud of the work we delivered. It’s always exciting to push creative and technical boundaries, and this project proved that with the right planning, collaboration, and tools, even large-scale VFX can be executed on a tight budget without sacrificing quality.
Comments