By TREVOR HOGGImages courtesy of Ingenuity Studios and HuluWhen a prodigiously-gifted, scientifically-minded 11-year-old boy flees his native Barbados, a global adventure ensues that sees him rise above societal prejudices and chart his future in the Hulu miniseries Washington Black. Created by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (Executive Producer and Showrunner), the eight episodes adapt the novel by Esi Edugyan, which starts off on a Barbados sugar plantation in the 1830s and subsequently sojourns to Virginia, the Canadian Arctic, Nova Scotia, London and Morocco. Looking after digital recreation of the period along with some fantastical moments were VFX Supervisor Eddie Williams and VFX Producer Tyler Foell, who sought the expertise of Ingenuity Studios to produce 378 shots with 126 of them containing CG elements. Among the environmental work was a harbor and a flyover of London as well as a magical butterfly, and opening and closing sequences featuring the pages of a CG book transitioning to live action.We looked at a lot of those photos [of merchant vessels from that period] and tried to figure out, What can we do to get variety in boats so there are schooners, merchant vessels and others that would have been popular in this era? Then, we had our CG team make multiple parts of the ships, and from there we were able to essentially make our own kit-bashing. It was like, Well use this hull and these masts from that other ship. We started mixing and combining. If I remember correctly, we had roughly 2 fully-built CG model ships.Tyler Shanklin, VFX Producer, Ingenuity StudiosThe CG team at Ingenuity Studios made multiple parts of the ships in order to achieve diversity through kit-bashing.Combining the grim reality of the adult world with the fanciful wonders of a childs imagination is the visual aesthetic of Washington Black. What we got from the production was that the footage had a lot of this style mapped out, which had a Steampunk element to it, states Tyler Shanklin, VFX Producer at Ingenuity Studios. They wanted a world that felt lived in; thats the important thing. They didnt want everything clean, but to be more realistic. Roughly composited shots were favored over storyboards and previs. The good news is, for a lot of the more intricate or big things that needed to change, essentially shots that dont look anywhere near how they were captured, we were given rough comps showing us the direction they wanted to take it. It was on our plate to then make it look cohesive. We also had weekly meetings where we everybody would hop on Zoom and go almost shot by shot to say, Heres where were at. Heres where were taking it. That allowed us to get feedback along the way from Eddie and Tyler, just to make sure that we dont spend days rendering something that went in a completely wrong direction than what they were looking for.Practical lights assisted in enabling the bioluminescence situated beneath the water to interact with the boat.Reference images were provided of the practical set pieces including vehicles. We needed to extend some of those vehicles because only part of them were constructed, Shanklin remarks. Luckily, our Visual Effects Supervisor, Krisztian Csanki, happens to enjoy Steampunk, so he completely understood what this world needed to look like when it came to contraptions and vehicles. The other side was the client was adamant that there were going to be some differences. This is not based in true history. History has taken a turn, so there would be certain anachronistic qualities. We were looking up, What materials were clothing made from back then? What was the style of clothing? The difference between the 1810s versus the 1830s; how did fashion change in that time? What did steamboats look like? This was at the beginning of the steamboat movement in realistic history. From there, we started piecing things together, working closely with Eddie Williams and Tyler Foell, who would show things to the Showrunner and the other producers, and the networking would provide feedback for us. From there, we would continue to evolve until we got what you see and what everybody enjoyed.Whimsy creeps into the creature effects. What was interesting with the butterfly is we started out looking at extremely slow-motion footage of how they flap their wings so we could recreate that and play it back at normal speed, Shanklin explains. We had to find this perfect balance between making it look whimsical and magical because this is the moment in the show where Titch [Tom Ellis] is showing Young Washington Black [Eddie Karanja] that he does have a scientific and artistic mind. It was important for that to have elements of whimsy, fun and magic because it is a pivotal part of the story where this boy is shown that hes more than what the rest of the world sees him. The CG butterfly was meant to enhance, not distract from the emotional and narrative significance of the moment. We want everybody to say, Wow, that looks great. But at the same time, we take a stand of if youre noticing the visual effects because theyre so amazing then you need to dial it back. We shouldnt be distracting from the show or story. What we ended up doing was to capture this magical place in the in-between of ultra realism and whimsy. When you watch footage of butterflies flapping their wings in real time, it looks very quick. You dont notice that theres this waving motion in their wings. We did the animation correctly, played it back normally, and then slowed it down just a hair so that your eye is able to pick up that waving motion of the wings when it goes to fly off; that is where we happen to land in that slightly magical place.Some interior environments were added later in post-production.Desaturation figures into the color palette for the gritty realistic scenes while vibrant and brighter tones are present in the fanciful scenes. That is actually a conversation Krisztian Csanki and I had with the post team, specifically about the Halifax harbor era, Shanklin notes. Because of modern day, the buildings are absolutely beautiful and extremely saturated. But we realized that the paints back then wouldnt have been able to get the same brightness because they were using mostly botanical dyes to create these colors. In addition, they werent out there with the hose every Saturday cleaning the dirt off of the building. We asked ourselves, What would this look like if it were truly created with botanical colors, and what would they look like with dirt and dust caked on them? This is the era of stagecoaches, horses and dirt roads. A lot of experimentation went into where we could get those buildings. In any of the buildings that were updated, changed or created with CG, we would provide maps for the post team so the colorist could go in and dial some of those buildings to match the color grading they were doing over the top of our shots.There were times where the skies had to be replaced to get the desired color for the water.Water simulations and interactions were tricky. We worked with a lot of water and ships, Shanklin explains. Dialing that in was probably the part that took the longest because there was a lot of feedback about physics issues of having the boat interact with the water or having the water interact with the ships correctly, plus dialing it back. Early on, the feedback we received was that the crests of water breaking out from the front of the boats and leaving that V shape were too strong. We needed to slow down the speed of the boats and maybe change the direction the water naturally flows. It was a lot of playing around, seeing what happens, and getting multiple versions over to the show to see which ones they appreciated and liked the most. Plenty of photographs exist of merchant vessels from that period of time. We looked at a lot of those photos and tried to figure out, What can we do to get variety in boats so there are schooners, merchant vessels and others that would have been popular in this era? Then, we had our CG team make multiple parts of the ships, and from there we were able to essentially make our own kit-bashing. It was like, Well use this hull and these masts from that other ship. We started mixing and combining. If I remember correctly, we had roughly 12 fully-built CG model ships.Reference images were provided of the practical set pieces, including vehicles.A theatrical scene takes place underwater. There were some shots where you could see what looked like a ground; either that or a very detailed tank, Shanklin recalls. We actually had to remove that to make it look like Washington Black [Ernest Kingsley Junior] was deeper in the ocean surrounded by nothing. This was one of those things where the client was more talking to us about the emotion they wanted to evoke. The complete loneliness and isolation Wash would have been feeling in this moment. For some of those shots, we did at a reef wall, while others we removed everything around him to make it feel isolated. Those were shot practically. A simple composite was provided by Eddie Williams. Eddie did some great work to show us where he wanted the refracted light breaking through the water, the direction it should be going, and the size Wash should be in the frame. We did multiple versions to dial in the murkiness. However, even though the camera is further away in some of these shots, you still need to be able to see and understand clearly that it is Wash in the water. There was a lot of back and forth trying to find that sweet spot of accuracy plus visuals for the sake of storytelling.Computer graphics illustrate the brilliant scientific mind of Washington Black.There is a theatrical quality to the underwater sequence, which conveys the loneliness and isolation that Washington Black is feeling.The compositing team at Ingenuity Studios added dirt to the buildings and windows to make the environments appear more believable.We asked ourselves, What would this [building] look like if it were truly created with botanical colors, and what would they look like with dirt and dust caked on them? This is the era of stagecoaches, horses and dirt roads. A lot of experimentation went into where we could get those buildings. In any of the buildings that were updated, changed or created with CG, we would provide maps for the post team so the colorist could go in and dial some of those buildings to match the color grading they were doing over the top of our shots.Tyler Shanklin, VFX Producer, Ingenuity StudiosLondon is shown during a flyover. We found a layout of the city of London, so in terms of how the streets wind and where the buildings are located, there has not been a lot of change, Shanklin notes. Our CG team would go in and model the buildings; our texture team would create the bricks and wood; and, generally, the DMP team would go in and dirty things up. It was about splitting up the labor so we could get things done as quickly as possible. Smoke was a prominent atmospheric in London. We started out being extremely realistic, thinking, Okay, this is the era of coal, so thick black smoke was billowing from every chimney, recalls Shanklin. However, thats one area where theyre like, Tone it down. Make it look more like steam. Make less of it so we can see more of the city. Historical accuracy gave way to narrative clarity. We were told specifically to add Big Ben under construction with all the scaffolding even though that did not happen until 1843. That was because there are three possible landmarks that would make London identifiable, with Big Ben being the most recognizable.Washington Black is not based in true history, so there are certain anachronistic qualities to the imagery.The CG book, which serves as bookends for the series, was a last-minute addition. Luckily, in-house we had a number of leather and page textures, Shanklin remarks. For the book opening, how many individual images and pages do you want to see? Once they got the number to us, we did a loose Playblast showing that number of pages with images on them. We sent that to the client who approved it, and went from there. We didnt have time to think about how the pages should move. It was more about rigging them so they had natural paper weight and bends and moved slightly. While we were having the CG team create the book and rig it for animation, our DMP team went in and created versions of what the pages and cover looked like. While these things were being created, we were getting look approvals from the client, so when it got to the actual textures of the book after it was modeled and rigged, we already knew what look the client wanted. That helped us move faster.