Michael Cliett (pictured) served as the overall visual effects supervisor on Shōgun, which is nominated for an Emmy in the “Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Season Or A Movie” category. The show premiered back in February on both Hulu and FX. The 10-episode series is an adaptation of James Clavell’s bestselling novel and is set in 1600s Japan at the dawn of a civil war.
Hiroyuki Sanada stars as Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. When a European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot, John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power.
“If you had told me when I was younger that I would work on a show set in Sengoku-era Japan, I would have said you were crazy,” states Cliett. “And if you had told me that show would be an epic retelling of Shōgun, I would have said you were even crazier.”
Cliett spent a portion of his childhood living in Japan. He watched the original Shōgun series with his father and developed a deep fascination of the show’s historical depiction of Japan.
“Even after moving home to my native Canada, I have maintained a sincere love of Japanese culture ever since,” he notes. “So when I first started working with Shōgun showrunners Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo as the VFX supervisor for the new series, I knew that my admiration and enthusiasm for the subject matter would be evident.”
Cliett enjoyed the research process that went into developing the series’ visual effects.
“I think viewers would be surprised to learn just how much of Shōgun is done in VFX,” he reveals. “We had to recreate the Osaka Castle of 1600s, and relied on several sources in putting that together. Frederik Cryns from the University of Kyoto was a particularly-vital ally. Cryns is regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on Sengoku-era Japan. He helped us track down a few pieces of art that depicted what Osaka Castle looked like at the time, as well as a blueprint of the main tower.”
Beyond the iconic building, the research brought up a number of interesting considerations.
“As we laid out the broader geography of our cities, we looked to the location of the Imperial Palace in contemporary Tokyo and used that to determine the environments of our show,” Cliett explains. “It helped us establish where the city of Edo would be in relation to Mt. Fuji, for example, as well as where the bay might be. Getting a lay of the land was imperative before we even began populating those environments with our massive CG armies.”
Cliett served as a second unit director on Shōgun, and says he was supported by a “fantastic team” every time they had to go out and get drone footage or establishing shots. A team of VFX vendors from around the globe also lent their skillsets to the historical epic.
“SSVFX in Dublin played a crucial role in fleshing out Osaka,” he notes. “I had seen their worldbuilding before, and they blew all of us away with their work on Shōgun. Likewise, Goodbye Kansas in Stockholm built everything you see in Edo. They are also adept at creating digital people, and so they did the army on the beach, as well as Erasmus getting towed into Ajiro in Episode 1.”
Important Looking Pirates in Stockholm, which is known for their water simulation, also played a role.
“I knew I wanted them to work on all the water in our show, using their proprietary water package and pipeline alongside their talented FX artists,” he explains. “I also had a recommendation for Refuge VFX in Portland, an incredibly-talented studio with whom it was a pleasure to collaborate.”
To conclude, Cliett says that the role of the show’s VFX was to be as authentic, accurate and visually stunning as possible.
“The experience was among the most rewarding of my career in VFX, and I am excited to continue to tell this epic story in the show’s second and third seasons.”