The Penguin, from Warner Bros. Television and DC Studios, is an eight-episode limited series that stars Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb (a.k.a. “The Penguin”). The show continues filmmaker Matt Reeves'
The Batman crime saga and centers on the character played by Farrell in the film.
Johnny Han was the show's visual effects supervisor, and says he was excited to work on the series, having seen Reeves' The Batman in theaters.
"Showrunner Lauren LeFranc had such a clear vision from day one, briefing me on the immense importance of the grounded storytelling we were about to embark on, and how the VFX at all costs had to support the story and characters, emotionally affecting us even when grand in scope," says Han.
In Episode 3, a cataclysmic event takes place, with an explosion that collapses a seawall, sending an unstoppable wave of water that wipes out a freeway and hurtles towards Victor Aguilar’s (Rhenzy Feliz) family home.
"While these types of VFX are usually considered spectacle 'cool' shots, we had to carefully craft the scene to first and foremost be about the tragedy of a young kid helplessly watching his whole world unravel in an instant as his family is killed," Han explains. "So the VFX had to convince you that you yourself were Victor, standing in his shoes, viscerally affecting you as you experience the moment that changed his whole life. Now, knowing what Victor went through, the viewer can fully sympathize with his character as he chooses his fate to join Oz Cobb, knowing he has nothing else to lose. The VFX of The Penguin weren’t there to be seen, they were there to be felt."
As the visual effects team prepared to tackle the sequence, a key workflow decision was made early on.
"We wanted our picture editor, Andy Keir, to work in a way most natural to the editing process," Han explains. "So the VFX team provided to editorial a low-resolution version of the flood scene as one long continuous master shot, dubbing it 'digital dailies.' While low-res and crudely textured, the water and destruction physics were accurate to real-world physics. And by obeying real-world physics we have our best chance of making the water move realistically. With these digital dailies, Andy Keir could chop up and edit in whatever portions of the flood moments he saw fit, preserving the natural behavior of the water."