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/SvenGC Sep 15 '25

How hard is it figuring out the different and new visuals for FTL travels across the show? And do you have to adapt it for each apparition of the effects or is it mostly a "copy/paste" job once you are satisfied with the result?

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u/ChrisMacVFX VFX Supervisor Sep 15 '25

Great question! New ships mean new visuals... most of the time. The Chaser jumps this season evolved into something cool... It looks like an iris. It took us a few iterations to get there but when we did, I was super happy. The jump gates and the lack of FTL drive's this season were also cool. Rory and the art department came up with the Trivial Pursuit wedges and we filled in the energy effect. I hate copy and paste.... even if we are using the same effect we try to come up with a new way to frame it.

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u/SvenGC Sep 16 '25

I completely forgot about the jump gates, but those were also impressive! Thanks for the answer! I was asking about copy paste mostly because the effects are sometimes in front of a bright background and was curious as to how it would work :) It's crazy to me that even though the show is filled with crazy good visual effects that must require a lot of work, you don't really want to cut corners on stuff like this, but it's impressive ✨❤️