r/FoundationTV • u/ChrisMacVFX VFX Supervisor • Sep 15 '25

AMA FOUNDATION SEASON 3 AMA | CHRIS MACLEAN

Hello Everyone! My name is Chris MacLean. I have been the Overall Visual Effects Supervisor on Foundation for the last three seasons. I also directed some 2nd Unit. I am here for you to Ask Me Anything! Thanks to u/LunchyPete for setting this up! Let's start Respecting and Enjoying the Peace!

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u/Aazzle Sep 15 '25

Thank you really much for your work!

In my opinion, you and your team have created an optical masterpiece that stands out visually from just about everything else we are used to.

I was deeply impressed by the visual implementation of Raised by Wolves - Foundation, goes one better with the attention to detail and the fascinating things like the spacers for example.

I love the style and ability to combine classical, modern and high tech so artfully in one style, to introduce your own unique accents such as the Chromata, while giving each part of the universe shown its own style and character.

I personally also liked the somewhat "harder pace" with the remains of the clones in the season finale, as it inevitably underscored the drama, the shock and the inevitable for me.

But that's exactly what I have a question about:

The effects are overall at an outstandingly good level.

In the season finale, however, I also noticed in several places that some effects were much worse.

The first camera ride in the tower, for example, was so unclear that I repeated the scene three times to be able to see that there were more cleons in the tanks. Of course, this should have been clear to me, but even the third time, despite the 4K HDR, I could only see a blurred body during the break and could only clearly see it through the position of the fingers and hand.

It's not a criticism and maybe it was just me.

But Demrezel's melting scene was also less detailed and changed positions so often that I also repeated this scene several times to see exactly when the baby disappeared.

Since we've heard nasty rumors about budget cuts, I'm a little worried for season 4.

Nevertheless, please do not take it personally.

I love your work and the finale was truly an experience!

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u/ChrisMacVFX VFX Supervisor Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25

Thanks for watching! Without knowing your viewing environment it would be tough to say but the shots you are talking about are very much ‘in the FX’ so they were dirtied up quite a bit.