For James MacLachlan, working as overall VFX supervisor on Season 7 of Netflix’s sci-fi anthology series, Black Mirror, represented quite a jump from his previous work as VFX supervisor on Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso. “They’re very much the yin and the yang of my career so far,” he says. “I’ve always followed Black Mirror, and I enjoy a bit of a dark humor and love the technology side of things. I think I’m more aligned to Black Mirror in terms of personal ethos. But I’ve learned a lot from Ted Lasso. It’s softened my approach.” Black Mirror’s 7th season finale, “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” a sequel to the fan-favorite 2017 Season 4 opening episode, “USS Callister,” picks up years later where the ship’s crew, led by Captain Nanette Cole, is stranded in an infinite virtual universe, fighting for survival against 30 million players. MacLachlan spoke with AWN about how he and the visual effects team began with a fresh visual direction and an ambitious VFX brief, modernizing the original look while employing a collaborative pipeline to produce needed shots, and why family visits to set might help inspire a new generation of digital artists. The new episode returns to the USS Callister from Season 4, but in the future. It builds directly on the 2017 original. “We were a sequel,” MacLachlan says. “The original episode is much loved by fans. We were springboarding from a wealth of looks and ideas and themes that ran through it. We were standing on the shoulders of giants.” While the creative team worked from a familiar design language and characters, they updated the aesthetic. “The first episode leaned heavily into 60s design,” MacLachlan adds. “We were very much heading into the future. Some of the elements are similar, but the direction was new.” The production was anchored by director Toby Haynes and showrunner Charlie Brooker. “Together, the pair of them were able to directly point to where we were headed from that initial point in time,” MacLachlan notes. “Miranda Jones, our production designer, did a lot to establish the new visuals. The costume and props departments came in with fresh ideas. It was a really solid base.” He adds, “Some of the stuff we designed as we did the VFX, and some of the things Union VFX did were absolutely fantastic. You know, the teleportation, the defragging / fragging, the spaceship design, the space battles, they were all new elements this time around.” “There are north of 600 VFX shots in the episode, which is a significant shot count,” MacLachlan shares. “The largest body of work was obviously the space battle sequences in and around the Heart of Infinity,” he says. “There’s a lot of fully CG content — space battles, explosions, laser fire, dynamic camera moves.” Designing the action around a unique central structure was critical. “A key feature of the show was that everything is moving in and around this swirling, gyroscopic behemoth of a center of the Heart of Infinity,” MacLachlan says. “The team had to coordinate shots where the camera moves in and around a moving obstruction. I can’t think of another space battle where the object is shifting this way.” Describing other VFX highlights that included teleportation effects, defragging visuals, and transitions in and out of the game environment, he adds, “We were creating in-game effects within a real-world, immersive context. It wasn’t just stylized overlays — it had to feel like part of the world.” Planning began before the script was locked. “We read the scripts while they were still in development,” MacLachlan explains. “It was collaborative from the start. We’d meet with Toby, Charlie, the DOP Stefan Pearson, and just start bouncing ideas.” Early design sessions were hands-on. “We’d literally be using hand gestures to block things, filming each other, folding paper planes, moving them around,” he laughs. “We were doing sort of bad Tai Chi in the office. It started very organically.” The previs team at Bigtooth Studios helped refine the ideas. “They were fantastic,” MacLachlan says. “They generated shots and content we could slip into the edit. Union VFX then built on top of that. It was a really fluid process.” Because of the evolving nature of the edit, flexibility was essential. “We weren’t constrained to a single version of things,” he continues. “As the cut changed, the design could adapt. That was really lovely.” While there was no virtual production in the traditional sense, the team did employ a large LED wall for the bridge set. According to MacLachlan, “There’s a huge viewport in the USS Callister bridge. We figured it would be more cost-effective and give a better result if we used an LED wall. We pre-designed hyperspace, laser fire, different planets — then played them back live on set.” The benefits were both creative and technical. “The actors walked in and were blown away,” he shares. “Last time it was all greenscreen. This time it looked amazing.” From a cinematography standpoint, it also made sense. “The ship interior has reflective surfaces — shiny glassy chrome,” he adds. “The LED wall meant we had natural reflections, no need to fake them in post.” With real-time control, the team could fine-tune light and composition. “Stefan could move where a planet was to adjust lighting,” MacLachlan notes. “We did large matte paintings, animated them, and the crew could switch things on the fly. It gave us a lot of variation.” MacLachlan says the episode’s ambition pushed everyone to rethink traditional sci-fi staging. “We wanted to bring energy. The space battle had to feel dynamic, like the camera was part of the action. We had to consider how laser fire works. If a pulse leaves a fighter jet, it keeps going straight — even if the ship turns.” “It’s not something I’d really considered before,” he admits. “The Union team showed me tests, and we realized the physics mattered. It needed to be consistent.” Making it all work narratively meant threading effects into the story. “Teleportation, defragging — these had to look impressive, but also support what the characters were experiencing,” MacLachlan says. “We were building a game world that had its own logic.” He also emphasizes that collaboration across departments was key. “Everyone brought ideas. We’d be feeding off each other. Charlie, Toby, Stefan, the editor Tony Kearns — when everyone’s playing in the sandbox together, it elevates things.” MacLachlan adds that time was the only real limit. “We just wanted to keep putting more in. That’s always the challenge — knowing when to stop.” One moment that stood out during the production was the family set visit. MacLachlan shares, “Families were invited to come walk around the bridge. The cast and crew brought their kids. You could see them light up. It’s not something I’ve experienced before.” He believes those visits may spark something lasting, noting, “You hear a lot of people in VFX say, ‘It was Star Wars for me.’ Or ‘That day I visited set.’ Maybe some of those kids will remember this as their moment. That’s really special.” Ultimately, MacLachlan sees the episode as a mix of spectacle and thoughtful design. “Hopefully the energy of the space battle helps the story move forward. It’s not subtle. The VFX are right there. But it feels cohesive.” He adds, “We didn’t want to show off for the sake of it. The effects had to be part of the game logic, part of the narrative. It all had to feel photographic and believable in the context of the show.” For MacLachlan, the collaboration stood out most. “From script to screen, it was a wonderful experience. The humor, the dark areas, the tech — it all came together. I think that shows in the final product.” Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network. #inside #vfx #netflixs #black #mirror