TV/STREAMING
NEW VISUAL VISTAS PROPEL THE EXPANSE INTO HIGHER ORBIT By TREVOR HOGG
Images courtesy of Amazon Studios. TOP: From left, Rocinante crewmates Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar), Amos Burton (Wes Chatham), Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper) and Jim Holden (Steven Strait) land on Ilus.
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Human colonization of the solar system has led to a mining colony in an asteroid belt being caught in an escalating political and military conflict between Earth and Mars. Amidst this hostile environment is a conspiracy to weaponize an alien pathogen that has a mind of its own. The Expanse spans eight novels, three short stories and five novellas authored by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the pen name of James S. A. Corey. When the Syfy Network decided not to renew the television adaptation of the science fiction mystery series created by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, Amazon Studios came to the rescue of fans to release a fourth season and is currently producing a fifth. “There were some changes in terms of how we delivered things such as switching to HDR, which was a big plus for us,” notes Executive Producer and Showrunner Naren Shankar. “We were able to develop some much more interesting looks in Season 4, such as all of the stuff on the planet [of Ilus] being in anamorphic 2:39:1.” “One switch that did happen over the course of the seasons was a reliance on Redshift and other graphic engine renderers that allow us a lot more iterations in a much more efficient way,” remarks Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Bret Culp. “We’re constantly improving everything. We went back to one of our big locations from Seasons 2 and 3, and gave it a big Season 5 upgrade by putting a lot more detail in the geometry.” An extensive amount of bluescreen is utilized to achieve the necessary size and scale. “A whole section of the biggest stage that we use is cordoned off as a pre-walled bluescreen stage. We shoot a lot of the wire stuff there. There are so many sets on this show, we put them on wheels and roll them in and out, like a Tetris game. The height of the Martian construction dome from Season 4 would be a third higher than the CN Tower, so we are clearly building a small portion of that and extending.” A director is responsible for a pair of consecutive episodes, resulting in even and odd blocks which are divided between two
visual effects teams. Visual Effects Supervisor Robert Crowther and Visual Effects Producer Sarah Wormsbecher are responsible for the even blocks, while Visual Effects Producer Krista Allain focuses on the odd blocks. “The books are written with a scientific angle, and Naren has a background in that as well,” states Culp. “We definitely lean heavily on the science and have embraced it.” A multi-Oscar-winning sci-fi thriller by filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón was also a source of inspiration. “We did talk a lot about Gravity in the early years because that was a great model for what we were
TOP: David Strathairn portrays Commander Klaes Ashford, who returns in Season 4 as the second-in-command of the Behemoth. BOTTOM: Cas Anvar portrays veteran Martian Navy pilot Alex Kamal, who is responsible for flying the Rocinante.
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