When GateWorld visited the set of Primeval: New World our final interview of the day was with Mark Savela, who helped helm the visual effects of the Stargate franchise for more than half a decade. In this interview, Savela talks about some of his favorite Stargate VFX moments as well as giving us an idea of how things are coming with the fantastic visuals he and the VFX team at Atmosphere and Omni Post are putting together.
GateWorld: It’s been a few years since we talked last. Having finished up your work on Stargate for the foreseeable future, is there anything you are particularly proud of from a visual effects standpoint?
Mark Savela: One of the things that I will always love, because it was so different than anything we had done before and was a start and a new beginning, was the opening scene of Stargate Universe. Everybody coming through the gate. It was the thing that built the franchise, the Stargate. But we had never filmed it the way we did there, using handheld cameras and everything else and being on the floor and 75 people or so coming through it all at one time. To me, it was so brand-new and so fresh.
GW: Almost like a re-invigoration?
MS: It was. We had talked so much with Brad [Wright] and Robert [Cooper] and Andy [Mikita] who directed the pilot. About making the effects more of a thing in the background. It was a new and fresh way of looking at it. I really believed it was new blood for something that we had already seen for twelve years at that point and time. And I also loved our little ship. I loved Destiny to death.
But besides that, I think one of the most satisfying episodes was “Awakening” with “Fred the Alien.” When we finished that, he was so photo-realistic and lit so well that people were like “That’s a great prosthetic!” when in fact there weren’t any. I heard from so many people in the visual effects industry that were fans of the show that said it was hands-down the best looking CGI creature they’ve ever seen on television. That was quite a compliment.
GW: With the style the series was shot in, did it create additional challenges that the previous two shows never dealt with?
MS: Yeah. Andy Mikita directed that episode, and it was one of those things where you have to talk to the director. It was like that with SGU and it’s the same on Primeval: New World. Where you have to talk to the director and talk to the cast and tell them that they have to treat that CGI element just as you would a flesh and blood cast member. You can’t ignore him, and you have to treat his coverage the same way as you would anyone else. You can’t treat it as a specialty shot. To make Fred believable, that’s how it had to be done. It made it tougher to do, but to not do it that way would have made it less believable.
GW: In terms of visual effects, even from a budgetary standpoint, what has changed in the last few years?
MS: I had a discussion with someone just yesterday about it where we were discussing budget, and how some things increase and some stay the same. They do and they don’t. The price is probably about the same, but the demands are greater. Ten years ago, if you did a shot of an active Stargate, it would be a locked-off shot and you’d get clean plates and everything else. And now, with SGU, you had moving hand-held shots and you’re using other techniques. So the bar is always being raised. And the technology is always being raised. So you can do more, but the price point stays at roughly about the same. Budgets are about the same, but you’re expected to do more, because you can do more.
GW: Working on Primeval: New World, are there challenges here that you weren’t as accustomed to within the Stargate franchise? You don’t have outer space shots, you don’t have ships like the Daedalus or Destiny. It’s all Earth-based. Is it more difficult working within those guidelines?
MS: Our biggest challenge and biggest goal within Primeval is to make absolutely everything we do and every effect we generate 100% photo-realistic. Where people can believe we have dinosaurs in the room with our cast, and not doubt what’s in front of their eyes. But they are equally challenging and freeing in some respects. No one has ever seen a live dinosaur. And very few have gone into space. So most people don’t know what it actually looks like. What we’re doing is providing an interpretation and hoping it looks real enough to people. Aesthetics aside, you hope people like what they are seeing but you also hope it translates as real to people as well.
What’s also new and fresh in terms of not playing in that sandbox before is our cast. And they are brilliant. We were working on a fight scene with a couple of dinosaurs and we had three of our leads — Niall and Sara and Danny — there. We were halfway through the shooting day and I went up to the three of them and was like “Do you need anything else?” They are all so good at focusing and acting like they really see a dinosaur there and are tracking its movements.
I’ve worked with other actors on that type of thing before and it’s not the easiest thing to do. To be there and acting and emoting in that moment, and then also have to imagine something that isn’t really there. The three of them are probably the best I’ve seen at it, except for Alaina [Huffman]. Alaina is hands-down one of the all-time best I’ve ever seen. She has this amazing…I call it ocular convergence. Some people, if they look at something in front of them and then you take it away, their look goes longer. They don’t maintain that focus on the space and it’s something they can’t help. And the camera picks that up. But with amazing focus, like what Alaina has even if she has nothing to truly focus on, it really helps to sell the effects shots.
GW: Do you think there could ever come a time where the demands of television visual effects and photo-realism negatively could affect the genre as a whole? Where the price to make it look “real” to viewers becomes a detriment to the amount of creative ideas that are actually green-lit? I firmly believe a series like Terra Nova on FOX might have still gotten a second year renewal if the budget could have been pulled back in a bit, and in the case of that series a sizable chunk was dedicated to the VFX needed to visualize that world.
MS: I don’t think so, no. I was working on this theory today about viewership and what makes a hit show, but you’ll never know what it is because it’s genius. [Laughs]
I firmly believe that story comes first. And characters come first. And if viewers aren’t there, then they aren’t there for some reason and I don’t think the visual effects have anything to do with it. The story and the characters should be the meat and potatoes on a plate. And the visual effects should just be that good-looking gravy.
GW: How well do you think the VFX you’ve been putting together for Primeval: New World have been coming along?
MS: Very well! We’ve been building up dinosaur models like mad. And we’re really taking the time to do them right. We’ve front-loaded so much of our work so that we don’t run into any problems and everything is solid where and when it needs to be. We are doing rendering tests all the time, and lighting and texturing tests. So that when it comes time, everything is spot-on with what it needs to be.
One thing that is important to us, not just as artists but also as part of this specific franchise is to be true to the Primeval brand itself. To take the things they did in Seasons Four and Five, and not only replicate it but also take it an extra step further.
GW: So no worries about things like the anomalies themselves? They’ll still look similar to before with that “broken glass” event horizon?
MS: Yep! Yep. We used as our initial template a lot of the things for the anomaly look that you saw in Seasons Four and Five of the original series.
GW: And it looked great there, especially in HD. Night and day difference from the look in the standard definition first couple of years.
MS: Very much so.
GW: Did you watch the original series before working on this?
MS: I did. Not super religiously or anything. I absolutely love genre shows, but I have difficulty following British shows very thoroughly. I find UK shows are hard to watch because of how their runs go and how their seasons go. Sometimes they are eight episodes and sometimes they are four. I don’t really understand it. Something like Doctor Who … I like Doctor Who. I’d like to watch it. But I never know when it’s on and I don’t have a ton of time to dedicate to it.
GW: So prior to getting this gig, you weren’t watching episodes of the original Primeval on Netflix and saying to yourself “I could so do this better!” [laughs]
MS: No! I would never say that! [laughs]
They did a phenomenal job on the original Primeval. And the only reason I think the effects on New World will be better is because of the time that has passed between the two. In real time, it’s only been two years. But that makes a huge difference in the effects world. By the day you see the premiere of Primeval: New World, those effects will already look dated to me because I will already know how we could do it better. But the series itself will look great! We have a team built from a history of effects shows like Stargate and Battlestar Galactica and Fringe. You’ll see that pedigree in the effects of Primeval: New World.
GW: Someday in the future, there is a new iteration of the Stargate franchise. Would you ever want to return to that well in a VFX capacity?
MS: Absolutely. I had some of the best years of my life working with Brad and with Rob and Joseph [Mallozzi] and Paul [Mullie] and Carl [Binder] and that whole gang. For me, it was six years of my life. Six seasons. I hope it does happen and a new iteration pops up. Even if it’s just a movie or something.
But in the meantime, I know I’m so pleased with what it is going on now. It’s not Stargate, but sometimes it feels like it. Familiar faces and old friends working on it. And a built-in fan base of people who will give it a shot because of that. I just hope everyone enjoys what we have been cooking up.
NEXT: Our reactions to New World‘s premiere episode … and a non-spoilerish preview of Season One!
Isn’t it already dead? Is there really a chance to continue? It was almost as good as the british one, and that cliffhanger was awesome.
Hmm sounds interesting but this sounds like the same basis for Tera Nova. I liked that show, maybe this one will do better than 1 season. How is it Syfy isnt’ getting it that bringing back Stargate Universe is the best option for them on so many levels?
Oh yeah! I used to watch a show much like this. with a portal that transported a small crew. On that team were two white guys, one black guy, and a woman. I think the show started with an S… like.. Star… no.. SLIDERS!
Has this been posted by mistake, thought this was confirmed as cancelled?
@Nekomajin and @Soupladel: Based on the information we have on hand, it isn’t quite dead yet…just life support in critical condition. The first season was a co-production of SPACE and Bell Media. Based on its Canadian ratings, SPACE (themselves a small cable network) dropped it. Any continuation of the show would be based on Bell Media finding a new partner to co-produce and co-finance it. So…as stated above…Syfy is the series’ best and likely final shot…which is why ratings are so important. If it makes enough waves…MAYBE they would look into helping it continue. If the ratings are sub-par, then… Read more »
I hope it gets at least another (half)season, because that cliffhanger was one of the annoying kind. It started a little low after the unique feeling of the british series, but it developed well, and I think, now it could stand on its on feet. (Well, I don’t mind a few cameos or crossovers here and there. :D )
I don’t understand. Which UK channel was the series shown on, and when? Sometimes I miss things but I was looking forward to seeing New World as a spin off from Primeval. Were there ANY announcements on this side of the pond?!
Umm… wasn’t this show already cancelled in Canada. When SyFy airs it, is there only going to by the one 13 episode first season, or are they taking over the reigns. I already watched New World from when it aired in Canada. I gotta say, the series did have some good moments, but the original series in the UK was far superior. Of course, they had five years to flesh out their characters and story.
It was on UKTV on Sky or cable
The first episode showed a lot of promise. The CGI was well done. I hope this one can last as we need more good sci-fi (non-vampire) shows.
With Continuum & Falling Skies back, things are looking good for genre viewers.
The series has been cancelled long ago. Even though it’s worth watching, it’s been cancelled, so no ending. If no ending, I’ve got better fish to fry.
I saw the first episode… and it’s terrible. I don’t see this lasting for very long.
Per the show’s publicist who I chatted with yesterday to get clarification, the series can and will continue if another network opts to pick it up for another year, be it Syfy or someone else. The ratings for the premiere on Syfy were respectable…so time will tell if it picks up enough ground for that to be a viable option. If you like what you see, support it by watching live.
I haven’t seen this yet…Is it good? I miss some shows now cause I pretty much turned Syfy off after Eureka got the ticket. But I love most of this cast.
I to thought this was dead… I was a big fan and was very disappointed when the cancelling morons axed this good one too…. so confusing… maybe they need to make the show terrible so they will renew it? after all,, everything bad stays and everything good is cancelled..
i wathced the first series of this and it was good altough no good as sg1 (what could be:) but i dont know really how they going to keep it alive? always new monster goming to our world or what?
This is why I hate cliffhangers! It’s stupid to wait for continuation which will never come. I’m tired of watching new series coz it may get cancelled half way with a cliffhanger, AGAIN!
There should be entertainment law to forbid tv series makers from making cliffhangers unless they’re 100% sure the series will continue.
@RDA
The UK series had some major stories unfolding around time travel and altering the timeline. There were returning monsters from the past and the future, but there were some unique creatures. (The episode with the dodos was EPIC. :D ) But the story concentrates around the well known time travel problems. The monsters were just decoration.
I am trying to like this series. So far, however, it is not nearly as good as the original UK version. Hopefully it will come together as it progresses.
Its OK the UK one was great hope it will follow.
Getting better. Still hard to like Matter’ s character and pacing needs worked on.