See Framestore’s detailed VFX breakdown for Dead City Season 3

Framestore has posted a detailed technical breakdown of its visual effects for Season 3 of The Walking Dead spin-off series Dead City.

To create a post-apocalyptic version of New York consistent with The Walking Dead timeline, Framestore used Google Street View to establish how the Manhattan skyline looked in 2010.

Once the period-accurate city had been reconstructed, the team began destroying it, using tools including Houdini.

You can see the process in the video, which includes timelapse recordings of the creation of two of the hero assets: ruined versions of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.

The latter features in one of Framestore’s key shots for the series: a seamless flight over the city that plunges down the side of the destroyed CG building.

Given the sheer scale of the environment – some aerial shots show almost the whole of Manhattan – Framestore treated surrounding areas “with the principles of a traditional painter”.

Detail was concentrated around the areas most likely to draw the viewer’s eye, while the surrounding cityscape became progressively more impressionistic.

Framestore’s other work included detailed character effects – this is a zombie survival series, after all – including CG eye replacements, and plenty of blood and gore.

Studio: Framestore
Project: The Walking Dead: Dead City (Season 3)
Artist credits: On IMDb
Other technical info: On Framestore’s website

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