Several techniques were used to sell the 12 to 13 foot tall main character, including a swathe of in-camera effects.
This week on the befores & afters podcast, we’re chatting to visual effects supervisor Todd Sheridan Perry about the incredible Boots Riley show, I’m A Virgo, currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
This is a show that involves a character who is 12 to 13 feet tall interacting with other characters who are human sized, and it also involves miniaturized human characters as well.
That meant Todd, and his associate VFX supervisor Scott Kirvan, had to deal with scale differences, and together with the team on the series, came up with lots of ways to achieve shots in-camera, using forced perspective tricks, clever staging, and of course digital visual effects work.
I urge you all to watch the show, then tune into this chat with Todd and I, it’s a lot of fun talking about the evolution of the work. One fun aspect of watching the show on Prime is checking out a few behind the scenes featurettes on the giant puppets, and the in-camera effects work.
Here’s the podcast below, along with a couple of behind the scenes stills from director Boots Riley, showrunner Tze Chun and on-set photographer Pete Lee. Plus, watch the trailer for the series.
Don't underestimate the power of Brett Gray.
Watch I'm A Virgo to estimate his power. pic.twitter.com/OZD1wmrbCt
— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) June 27, 2023
Two-time Tony nominee
Kara Young (@KARAakter)
is phenomenal in the role of Jones in I'm A Virgo.Here she is with the puppet version of herself on set.
Photo by @kungfupete pic.twitter.com/yb8mSdijf5— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) June 25, 2023
Here's an I'm A Virgo behind the scenes pic that my boy @kungfupete took.
Shows you how a little bit of how the forced perspective worked. There'll be a lot of BTS footage to watch. pic.twitter.com/0TMmPJtETy
— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) June 16, 2023
Our I’M A VIRGO on set photographer @kungfupete was amazing.
Here’s some BTS shots! #imavirgo #imavirgoonprime pic.twitter.com/PwPE56XJq2
— TZE CHUN (@thetzechun) June 28, 2023
Practicing a camera move for our I’M A VIRGO Episode 3 title.
Directed by @BootsRiley pic.twitter.com/O8ne52lJNG
— TZE CHUN (@thetzechun) June 26, 2023
https://twitter.com/thetzechun/status/1672320554987053059
It goes without saying that I’M A VIRGO would not be possible without creator/writer/director/EP @BootsRiley who I had the pleasure of co-showrunning this show with.
Here’s one of my fav pics of him by on-set photographer (and brilliant director in his own right) @kungfupete pic.twitter.com/yWM3qkNlIV
— TZE CHUN (@thetzechun) June 23, 2023
