‘The Man In The High Castle’ Visual Effects Video, Or How To Build An Alternate History Nazi-Ruled America
By Jacob Hall/Feb. 16, 2016 10:30 am EST
This very cool behind-the-scenes look comes to us courtesy of Wired and FX Guide’s Mike Seymour and here’s how they describe it:
The “how they did” it thing is answered quickly enough – computers. Duh. But it’s the how that is fascinating here, not the what. There is CGI at work in every nook and cranny of this show, with much of it being utilized for unexpected and surprising reasons.
As the video explores, The Man in the High Castle faces two immediate uphill battles: it has to recreate 1962 and it has to recreate an alternate 1962 where the Allies lost World War II and the United States is dominated by the Axis powers. That means major cities have to digitally molded to resemble their older selves and they have to be filled with details that indicate just who is in charge here. And since many businesses and buildings objected to having Nazi flags and fascist propaganda on full display for filming, this task fell to the visual effects folks. From there, the task of creating this world only grows more complex, as the VFX wizards have to create vehicles and technology that would only exist in a world where American manufacturing and design was halted and replaced with German and Japanese concepts. It’s wild stuff.
