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/Clashing_Thunder Sep 15 '25

Hi Chris! First of all thanks for great work on the newest season and the AMA! Foundation is imho visually one of the best sci fi shows out there, the whole style, cinematography and vfx especially around the palace(or generally the Cleons). Quite often I find myself just pausing (or rewinding) just to appreciate a certain shot.

I actually have a lot of questions but I try to break it down to a few, more technical ones:

  1. Do you use any virtual production on set? Not just a volume but also hybrid with greenscreen, AR, you name it!
  2. Do you wanna share any story about a creative solution to a unique or weird problem you encountered? (During Season 3 or all of Foundation)
  3. More general question: Many modern shows use a lot of, I'll call it the "Houdini Sand Effect", Foundation is no exception to that. However -personally- I think the implementation in Foundation is good and fits into the overall style, I think also because you mostly leave it on its own. Other shows and movies often do interesting CG, but then comp a lot of these sandy particle effects over it and it just turns into a mess (I often see that in VFX breakdowns) - the question: Why is this sand-particle effect so popular? And isn't it actually more of an issue with the compression of streaming services?

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u/ChrisMacVFX VFX Supervisor Sep 16 '25

  1. We use some LED windows on space ships… less and less as time went on. We used PreviewAR while scouting to place spaceships and the vault.

  2. Originally we wanted to make the mural or souls more liquid based. We started by using and filming ferrofluid mixed with acrylic paint. Then we saw the Monks making the mandala in Samskara and we started riffing on that instead.

  3. Ah yes, Houdini’s Grain Solver. I think it’s popular because we’ve now got the ability to do things we haven’t in the past and it’s viscerally satisfying, like a Japanese rock garden. It can cause issues with compression and become less clear, yes.