The Light VFX team takes us through their work on the recent Netflix miniseries Toxic Town.
The Corby toxic waste case is a shocking chapter in environmental and legal history, and calling it “the British Erin Brockovich case” highlights the scale of its impact.
When Netflix reached out to our studio about a show based on an actual event, we were instantly drawn by the story. We thrive on direct collaborations with directors as this allows us to develop a clear understanding of the director’s vision. Our initial meetings with Minkie Spiro and the team confirmed that the project was an excellent match for our creative and technical capabilities. Toxic Town allowed us to be involved in every stage of the production process and propose solutions that best enhance the storytelling experience.
Antoine Moulineau, VFX Supervisor
Antoine was engaged as the overall VFX Supervisor on the project and brought fantastic enthusiasm for the project along with creative and technical guidance. Light delivered wonderful invisible VFX work on the project and were collaborative partners throughout.
Daniel Barrow, Senior VFX Manager | UK VFX at Netflix
The VFX team faced several challenges while working on the hand adjustments. In some shots, the actor’s hand was inside a glove, so to scale it down, we had to remove the original hand, resize it, and replace it with a smaller version. Additionally, we enhanced the texture and brought it to life through grading.
For shots where the actor moved significantly or gestured frequently, the process became even more complex. Extensive work was required to reconstruct the background and seamlessly integrate the modified hand to better align with the story.
Significant time and effort went into designing and constructing the toxic ponds at both the factory and the disposal site. For one particular shot, we had to reconstruct a large portion to reveal more of the ponds, necessitating a full CG rebuild to extend the scene. This enhancement effectively conveys the vast scale of the waste being removed. The DMP, CG, and compositing work all look outstanding and contribute greatly to the storytelling.
At the disposal site, we had to generate an entirely new landscape from scratch. This was an extensive undertaking, especially considering the camera movement and the resulting parallax effects.
We are proud to have been part of such a profoundly meaningful project. Thank you to Netflix and Dan Barrow, and the dream team Cristina Palmer Romero, Pat Tookey-Dixon and everyone involved.
Oliver Johnstone, Compositing Supervisor
Watch the VFX breakdown reel below.
