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Interview: Inside the VFX of Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy’ With Folks Laurent Spillemaecker
Welcome to a new Geektown Behind The Scenes podcast. This week I’m chatting with Laurent Spillemaecker, VFX Supervisor for VFX company FOLKS about their work on the fourth and final season of the Netflix hit show ‘The Umbrella Academy’.
The final season sees our dysfunctional family of heroes, consisting of Luther (Tom Hopper), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Diego (David Castañeda), Viktor (Elliot Page) and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), trying to avert yet another apocalypse. Warning, there are SPOILERS below, and in the interview itself, so if you haven’t seen the final season yet, go and watch!..
Still here?
Okay, so if you remember the end of Season 3, the gang were left in a new reality, but also powerless. Whilst they do find a way to get their powers back, they also discover, they are the problem… After various, very "Umbrella Academy" type things happen, Ben, and his new girlfriend Jen, end up merging into a giant blob monster which threatens to destroy the Earth… And that’s where Laurent and his team at FOLKS come in...
FOLKS have been involved with 'The Umbrella Academy' since season one, but for the final season, the team received its most significant mandate yet. They were responsible for conceptual pre-production work to establish the creatures' identities, post-viz, final elaboration of complex shots, and creation of character and environment assets, animation, simulation, and compositing.
Along with creating the monstrous version of Ben and Jen, they also enhanced the environment for a Christmas-themed sequence, adding crowd characters, vendors, snow, and more. Plus they picked up some other shots, such as Five’s “blinking”, some of the laser eyes FX, and other superpowers and background work.
Outside of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Laurent has previously worked on a huge range of projects including Sin City, 300, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Blade Runner 2049, Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and lots more.
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Geektown Radio Episode 442: Joker: Folie à Deux, Cross, Silo, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
01:02:33|We return for episode 442 of the Geektown Radio podcast, and Matt from Entertainment Talk joins Dave (who, due to some recording issues, sounds a little like he's in a well...) as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!Matt returns to the show, with TV, film and game reviews! First up is 'Umbrella Academy' Season 4, which has been out for a while, but he has only just gotten around to watching. He also reviews 'Joker: Folie à Deux'... does he hate it as much as everyone else? Lastly, we have 'Final Fantasy VII Rebirth', the first of the FF series to actually "click" with Matt. Meanwhile, Dave has TV and game reviews, although unfortunately, there were some recording issues and his mic is a little more "echoey" than normal, so apologies for that! However, he does have reviews of 'Tracker', 'Devil’s Hour' and 'Silo', both of which returned recently for second seasons, along with new Prime Video drama 'Cross', plus some discussion about 'Baldur's Gate 3'.Over in the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations (or lack of them) and renewals, plus saying goodbye to Freevee, the BBC giving Gary Lineker a red card, Robbie Williams as a CGI chimpanzee, a new drama from Dan Fogelman (This Is Us, Only Murders In The Building), plus premiere dates for ‘The Night Agent‘, 'Mythic Quest' and more! Listen below!Geektown Radio Episode 441: Paris Has Fallen, Citadel: Diana, Planet Coaster 2, Day Of The Jackal Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
01:05:52|We return with a packed episode 441 of the Geektown Radio podcast, as Darryl from Hollywood North News joins Dave to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!Darryl is back with his usual eclectic mix of TV shows to review. He starts off with two Prime Video shows. First 'Paris Has Fallen', the new extension to the 'Has Fallen...' movie franchise, and the first project not to star Gerard Butler. Next, he reviews 'Citadel: Diana', the first of the spin-offs set in the Russo Brothers 'Citadel' Universe. He also pops over to Apple TV+ as he takes one giant step into their excellent alt-history drama 'For All Mankind'. Meanwhile, Dave has a new video game review as Frontier Developments releases Planet Coaster 2, the latest in their theme park game franchise. He also reviews 'David Baddiel’s “The Not Trilogy”', a filmed version of Oliver-nominated shows available now on Sky, and new Eddie Redmayne drama 'Day of the Jackal'.Over on the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the return of Clarkson, a final trip to the Outer Banks, and more autobiographical comedy from Alan Carr. We also have a stack of news from last weekend's D23 Disney event in Brazil, including Star Wars and Marvel updates, plus UK air dates for a bunch of upcoming shows! Listen below!Geektown Radio Episode 440: Doctor Odyssey, The Diplomat, Agatha All Along, MCM/EGX Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
01:09:34|After last week's little break to recover from MCM/EGX, we are back ith episode 440 of the Geektown Radio podcast! Matt from Entertainment Talk joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!Matt returns to the show, and one of his first loves, 'Hollyoaks'. We discussed a few months ago how the soap was about to go through some massive changes which included firing half the cast and a big shake-up in format and storylines. Now that has all happened, Matt updates us with his thoughts on how it has been going for the 30-year-old series. Meanwhile, Dave has stories from the MCM Comic-Con and EGX Gaming Festival and his thoughts on this combined version of the events. He also reviews the new Ryan Murphy drama 'Doctor Odyssey', which dropped onto Disney+ UK recently, 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' which returned for its final season, Netflix series 'The Diplomat', and the finales of both 'Agatha All Along' and 'Only Murders In The Building'.Over on the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including Amazon cancelling James May's travel plans, and Apple cancelling a new show. We also have the entire Marvel release schedule for the next 12 months on Disney+ and cinema, the obscure place you can watch ‘Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent‘ in the UK, the return of ‘Jack Ryan’, a possible location for a new '9-1-1', news of Amazon’s Live-Action ‘God Of War’ series showrunner, and Sir Michael Parkinson returning from the dead (kinda...)! Listen below!Geektown Radio Episode 439: Rivals, Lincoln Lawyer, 9-1-1, Memoriapolis Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
01:00:04|We are back with episode 439 of the Geektown Radio podcast, before we take a little one-week break due to MCM/EGX at the weekend. But first, Matt from Entertainment Talk joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!Matt returns to the show, standing in for Gray, who is swanning around New York right now, and brings with him reviews of a couple of TV shows. Firstly, 'Sweetpea', which you can watch in the UK on Sky & NOW, followed by the beloved Netflix series 'Heartstopper', which returned this week for a new season. Meanwhile, Dave has also been on Netflix catching the third season of 'The Lincoln Lawyer', before hopping over to Disney+ for the new season of '9-1-1' (and the infamous "Bee-nado"), along with their adaptation of Jilly Cooper's 'Rivals'. He also reviews the unique city-building game, 'Memoriapolis'.Over on the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including AMC cancelling Giancarlo Esposito's new series, Apple renewing two shows, even more 'Rick and Morty', and Paramount ordering more 'Star Trek'. As it was NYCC this weekend, we have a number of announcements from that Comic Con, including some 'Star Trek' and 'The Boys' casting, air dates for the return of several superheroes, a new Netflix drama from the brilliant Joe Barton (‘The Lazarus Project’, Giri/Haji’), and a new Channel 4 zombie comedy! Listen below!Geektown Radio Episode 438: Disclaimer, Outer Banks, Sweetpea, Ludwig Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
01:05:06|It's a new week and time for episode 438 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Robert from Entertainment Talk joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!It was a holiday this week in the USA, which means Robert returns to the show and has his usual eclectic mix of TV and games to chat about. He is currently on something of a cooking show binge and highlights one particular series, 'Crime Scene Kitchen', hosted by Joel McHale. We also discuss the mass of sports on US TV at the moment, particularly the state of the WMBA following the departure of star player Caitlin Clark. On the gaming front, he chats about the 'Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster'. Meanwhile, Dave has been catching a slew of season finales, including Apple's 'Bad Monkey' and 'Slow Horses', Season 2 of Prime Video's 'Rings Of Power', along with Season 1 of 'Ludwig'. He also reviews new shows 'Disclaimer' on Apple TV, Sky's 'Sweetpea', and the return of 'Outer Banks' to Netflix.Onto the news updates, and we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including more series "cancelled by Netflix" (trademark pending) and why that is becoming such a problem for them in the eyes of consumers. On the flipside, they also renewed a couple of big hitters as well. We also get some updates on some WB projects such as the return of 'Ted Lasso', and another 'Big Bang Theory' spin-off, plus a reboot of ‘Scrubs’, a follow-up (rather than a remake) to 'The Office', and casting for HBO's 'Lanterns'! Listen below!Stunt Secrets Of 'Shogun' & 'Tracker' With Assistant Stunt Coordinator Sharlene Royer
32:50|Welcome back to a new Geektown Behind The Scenes podcast. This week I’m chatting with Sharlene Royer, the Assistant Stunt Coordinator for utterly brilliant ‘Shogun’, which recently won a record-breaking 18 Emmys - including a very well-deserved one for Outstanding Stunt Performance!Based on James Clavell’s novel, FX’s 'Shōgun' is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village...It is an outstanding drama, available on Hulu in the USA, and on Disney+ in the UK and other territories. It's well worth watching and catching up if you haven't seen it yet, as it appears it will be returning for two more seasons following its record-breaking Emmy win.Born and raised in Quebec to a Haitian mother and French Canadian father, Sharlene was a dancer from the ages of 7 to 18, before moving into modelling and acting. However, following a meeting with legendary Stunt Coordinator, Alan Oliney, she was encouraged to try stunt work, and found her calling. She soon became a very sought-after stunt performer being requested to double stars such as Halle Berry, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Williams and many more.On 'Shōgun', Sharlene discusses her work on the epic drama as Assistant Stunt Coordinator, working alongside her boss (and life-partner) Lauro David Chartrand-Del Valle, developing the hugely complex Emmy-winning “cannon” scene, melding VFX, physical effects and stunts for the “earthquake”, plus location scouting, stunt coordinating in the pandemic and lots more.If that wasn’t enough, Sharlene was also Assistant Stunt Coordinator on season one of the hit CBS drama ‘Tracker’, for which she became the first Black, Female Stunt Coordinator to win a Leo Award from The Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British Columbia. She talks about working with lead actor Justin Hartley (and his photographic memory), and also working with Justin alongside guest star Jenson Ackles... who sound like they were as much fun together as you'd expect!Still want more? She also worked on the wonderfully fun DC superhero drama ‘Legends of Tomorrow’, performing the stunt work for Hawkgirl, so we touch on that in the interview too! Sharlene's other projects include things such as 'The Man In The High Castle', 'Never Let Go', 'X-Men: Days of Future Past', 'Siren', 'See', 'The 100', 'The Rookie', and lots more!Geektown Radio Episode 437: Book Of Carol, Deadpool & Wolverine, The Ark, CSI: Vegas, Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
47:35|We're back with episode 437 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Matt from Entertainment Talk joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!This week, Matt discusses finishing the first season of 'Yellowjackets' which he has been catching up with on Paramount+, and we also chat about the trailer for 'The Last Of Us' Season 2 which was recently released. Meanwhile, Dave brings reviews of 'The Ark' Season 2 which has now begun airing on Sku Sci-fi, 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon' Season 2 (aka 'The Book Of Carol'), which began airing on Sky Max, and 'CSI: Vegas' which returned for its final season on Alibi. They also discuss 'Deadpool & Wolverine' which Dave has finally seen now it is out on home release, and ponder where the "merc with a mouth" may show up next...Onto the news updates, and we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including another show cancelled by Netflix (they really should have that trademarked), Apple renewing Colin Farrell's bonkers PI series, and a last ride with 'Billy The Kid'. We also have a stack of premiere dates for upcoming shows, a new gig for a beloved 'Criminal Minds' cast member, a ‘Reacher’ spin-off, and a (possibly ill-advised...) attempt to make a UK version of a beloved classic US sitcom!Geektown Radio Episode 436: Elsbeth, Ludwig, The Devil's Hour, The Ark Reviews, Plus TV News & UK Air Dates!
54:56|It's time for episode 436 of the Geektown Radio podcast and Darryl from Hollywood North News joins Dave as co-host to chat TV, film and games news & reviews!Darryl brings with him his usual eclectic collection of reviews (and also a preview!) as he begins with Prime Video film 'Killer Heat', along with CBS drama 'Elsbeth' (currently airing on Sky Witness in the UK), Sci-fi series 'The Ark', which returns this week for season two in the UK, and the movie 'Alien Shark'... Because what would the show be without one of Darryl's B-Movie picks! He also previews CBS drama 'Matlock', which is due to premiere in November in the UK on Sky Witness. Meanwhile, Dave has reviews of new BBC dramedy 'Ludwig', Prime Video's 'The Devil’s Hour' which returns soon for season two, and 'SEAL Team', which is back for a 7th and final season on Sky.Over on the news updates, we bring you all of last week's cancellations and renewals, including the death of a murderous puppet, and the return of a big BBC drama. We also have a pile of premiere dates for shows coming up on Disney+ UK, including some big returning and brand-new procedurals, plus two new series from Pixar. We also discuss the Warner Bros Discovery/Sky lawsuit, MGM+ ordering a 'Robin Hood' series, and all things 'Zorro'! Listen below!