‘Black Mirror' VFX supervisor James MacLachlan reveals that ‘the Callister itself needed updating' for the unprecedented sequel
'What's really interesting is the breadth of what's going on,' Black Mirror visual effects supervisor James MacLachlan says of the buzzy seventh season. He adds that series creator Charlie Brooker "would pull things out of the recesses of his brain, references that were really obscure. Even to the point where we were discussing escalators in Tottenham Court Road, and how the metal shines when it catches the light." Watch our full interview above with MacLachlan joining our Gold Derby "Meet the Experts" VFX panel.
Season 7 of Black Mirror dropped on Netflix this year after a two-year break. Each episode of the anthology series takes on new characters to tell a dystopian tale of technology. However, the most recent season broke new ground with 'USS Callister: Into Infinity.'
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The episode marked the series' first sequel, returning to the world of 2017's 'USS Callister' episode. That installment won four Emmys, including Best TV Movie. The follow-up sees the crew of the virtual spaceship deal with problems arising in the wake of their leader's death. Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson, and Jesse Plemons return to the series for the episode. MacLachlan says, 'We've got a number of protagonists fighting one another and then flying battles in space and lasers and explosions and heart of infinity.'
MacLachlan, who did not work on the 2017 episode, approached the sequel, "less like Star Trek. We're slightly more Star Wars with a flourish of gaming through the middle. It was a hell of a lot of fun dealing with the guys on set and seeing their reactions to some of the subtle changes we made from when they did it in 2017. The script developed into a place that was quite new. Even the Callister itself needed updating.'
As to whether the visual effects supervisor had any inspiration from gaming, he reflects, "Growing up, Doom 2 was interesting and so was Wolfenstein because of the rooms and how you move through that world."
'USS Callister: Into Infinity' was directed by Toby Haynes, who received an Emmy nomination for his direction on Andor. MacLachlan admits, 'Working with Charlie and Toby was phenomenal. Talk about imposter syndrome when you sit down with those two and they're nodding about how a space battle is working. Everybody would sit back and make notes furiously and, you know, reference things we hadn't heard of before. The creative juices flowing was so much fun with so much to learn and so much to take in.'
This article and video are presented by Netflix.
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