Trevor Hogg discovers how David Goyer and his visual effects team helped adapt the epic sci-fi novel series Foundation into an Apple TV+ production…

Images courtesy of Apple

Amathematician develops an algorithm that can forecast future events, which puts him into direct conflict with a galactic empire as he has predicted its demise; this is the basic premise for Isaac Asimov’s seminal Foundation book series.The epic literary vision has been adapted into an ambitious Apple TV+ series by co-creators David Goyer and Josh Friedman, Skydance Television and Apple. Complicating the approval process was that the main sources of visual references for studio executives were StarWars, StarTrekand Alien.

“WE GAVE DAVID GOYER A SET OF VR GOGGLES AND SAID, OFF YOU GO. WALK AROUND THE SET. SEE WHAT YOU THINK”

• Conor Dennison, • supervising art director

“We told them, ‘It’s not going to be like any of those things’,” recalls David Goyer, who serves as an executive producer, showrunner and writer. “But if you don’t have anything to point to at the beginning it becomes daunting to develop the visual language. We kept coming back to ‘What’s something we haven’t seen before? What’s something that is iconic? What’s a shape that feels simple?’” Considering the vast scope of the production, which takes place on various planets over thousands of years and involves space travel, visual effects were a critical part of the storytelling. “What I tried to do in the script is to at least emotionally describe the effect, because I always come from a place of story. The Empire is aggressive and male so I wanted their ships to be like knives, which meant that they weren’t just folding space but ripping it.”

Hari Seldon is shown with the device known as the Prime Radiant

The Brutalist architecture of Berlin provided a physical basis for the Trantor

An additional 19 vendors had to be brought in to support DNEG, Important Looking Pirates and Outpost VFX as the visual effects shots for the ten episodes of Season 1 went from 1,500 to 3,900. “I realised early on that we needed a second visual effects supervisor because there was such an overlap between physical production and post-production, and the different time zones,” explains Kathy Chasen-Hay, senior VP VFX, Skydance. “Chris MacLean couldn’t be available while he was supervising on set and was a large component on the creative side in physical production. Michael Enriquez came in and carried the post and burden of vendor communication. There were lots of Sophie’s Choices made by David Goyer because you have to hit a number and fit it in the box.”