Creating photorealistic visuals for Shōgun

The digital matte painting team at Goodbye Kansas Studios embrace a collaborative approach for the environments in Disney's miniseries

Building worlds is no mean feat, and for historical epics like Disney’s Shogun, it becomes all the more challenging when artists need to recreate real places that have been all but lost to the mists of time.

The digital matte painting team at Goodbye Kansas Studios (GBK) had a hefty task when it came to creating backplates, set extensions and environmental setups of ancient Japan for Shogun. Post-production for a series of this scale is extraordinary, with effects ranging from crowd-building armies to sky replacement.

Set in 1600s Japan, Shogun follows Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who finds a mysterious European ship marooned in Ajiro, a small fishing village. While the show is filled with VFX, it was important for its creators to maintain historical accuracy, so the GBK team worked closely with Shogun’s inhouse historian to ensure authenticity.

Every detail from the armour and hair to architecture and matte paintings had to be visually engaging, yet not too fantastical or distracting from the plot. Designers from GBK turned to a variety of platforms to enhance the visuals while creating the perfect balance of accuracy and aesthetics.

BUILDING WORLDS

GBK is no stranger to large productions like Shogun, having worked on Doctor Who, Black Mirror and Asteroid City to name a few. Its precise detailing and quality of work caught the Shogun team’s attention, which led the show to its stunning, historically accurate visual effects.