The world of Batman took center stage in five seasons of the TV series Gotham which will soon be seen by a new cycle of fans as it arrives on HBO Max this Friday, September 30.
Originally airing on FOX, Gotham explored the famous city from DC’s Batman comics but also a lot of the lore many years before Bruce Wayne put on the mask. Familiar faces like not-yet-Commissioner James Gordon (Ben McKenzie), Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee), Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), and even Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) were all a part of it. But for many, the highlight was the rogues’ gallery of future Batman villains that included Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor), the Riddler (Cory Michael Smith), Mr. Freeze (Nathan Darrow), Ra’s al Ghul (Alexander Siddig), and many more. For us here at CoSA VFX, being the exclusive visual effects studio for the series, we had a unique opportunity in defining the visuals for the show’s world.
As we approach the arrival of Gotham on HBO Max, CoSA VFX is celebrating with “Gotham Week” – a daily look back at some of our favorite memories from the series which also saw our company grow over the years. But in order to visit a city, it first needed to be built, and that’s where we came in.
A large part of Season 1 was establishing the look of the Aerials; flyover shots over Gotham City that not only established the mood of key scenes, but also served as transitional elements that helped the emotion of the story along. This made Gotham City more of a character in its own right as opposed to just a location. These stylized establishing shots were built by CoSA’s early Environments team using a combination of CG assets that ranged from rooftop set dressing and gargoyles to fully-rendered buildings and matte paintings to bring the comic-book-inspired look of Gotham City to life on screen.
Speaking of looks and design, we owe a lot to Doug Kraner, the production designer on the show, according to CoSA VFX Supervisor & Partner Tom Mahoney. “In the very first meeting we had with Doug, director/EP Danny Cannon, and producer Scott White, we generated a lookbook for how we felt Gotham should look.”
Inspired by the cityscapes from the Batman animated series, Tim Burton’s films, and the Arkham series of video games, we agreed on an approach, and Doug [Kraner] looked at Danny and said “this is great! They’ll handle all the exterior Gotham shots for you because they get it and I’ll do all the interiors.”
Sadly, Doug Kraner passed away in 2016, but his influence and collaboration will never be forgotten. “He was brilliant, and he was generous. His sets on Gotham were gorgeous, and are still some of the best sets I’ve ever seen,” Mahoney recalls.
Gotham presented many firsts for CoSA VFX as a company. “It was super exciting,” according to former VFX Coordinator Erin Perkins, who was with Gotham from the very beginning, remembers. Up until this point, CoSA VFX had worked on several shows where they were among multiple vendors taking on a project… but for Gotham, this was our studio’s exclusive undertaking. Perkins herself is a Batman fan, proudly having Batman: The Animated Series on her shelf to this day. “It was really cool to be a part of [Gotham] and to see the shots come in.”
Furthermore, season 1 allowed the CoSA VFX team to flex their creativity which presented opportunities for many of its emerging talents. Then a Junior Compositor, eventual Environments Supervisor, Mark Nazal appreciated the freedom that was given to the team in establishing the look of Gotham City and its iconic landmarks. One of the first complex assets he had the opportunity to be a part of was the development of Arkham Asylum – an integral place to fans of Batman’s world. “I think there was a lot of creative freedom in giving it a level of personalization that was unique for the series,” Mark explains.
As our work on the show expanded and our artists’ experiences grew, the studio also saw its own growth. Our studio’s success and involvement with Gotham led CoSA VFX to expand to its second location in Vancouver, British Columbia, and then the team was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role for the Season 1 episode “Lovecraft.” While we didn’t win that year, some good news would come for the team only a few seasons later.
Come back tomorrow for Part 2 of our Gotham retrospective, as we look back at such villains as Mr. Freeze and Firefly. For alerts on when it will be posted, be sure to follow @CoSAVFX on Twitter.
ABOUT CoSA VFX
Founded in 2009, CoSA VFX has grown from a small boutique into a thriving visual effects studio with offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Vancouver. The CoSA VFX team has received Emmy nominations and wins for their work on TV series including Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Almost Human, Revolution, and Gotham, and currently provides visual effects for multiple studios, networks and streaming television services.
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