With deep sea adventure series Nautilus making waves on AMC+, audiences are once again falling in love with the underwater world of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Helping to bring this mythical realm to life on screen were Australian VFX house Future Associate, whose expertise in CGI environments and particle effects helped to complete many of the show’s more complex shots, from simulating oceans to simulating smoke on screen.

A key task given to Future Associate’s team was enhancing a pivotal fire scene, due to their vast experience with pyro simulations. While a small flaming rig was present on set for the shoot, for safety and practicality a vast majority of the fire seen on screen was added in post.

Alongside the fire, a number of extra details also needed to be added by Future Associate’s team to truly sell the virtual flames, including embers, smoke and reflections of the flames on high gloss surfaces to make the fire feel real.

Work on the scene began with animators sketching out key shots to help guide the sequence, and to allow the show’s creators to sign off on the animators’ vision. With the outline complete, 3D compositing software Nuke was then deployed to create custom flame, ember, and smoke elements, with animators refining the effect to best match the existing in-camera flames.

“We generated the CG smoke utilising a program called Embergen,” explains Future Associate’s VFX Supervisor Lindsay Adams. “To really sell it, a 3D Lidar scan of the set was supplied to us, so that the billowing smoke could interact with the architecture, giving it that realistic, rolling effect.”

Alongside the fire scenes, Future Associate demonstrated their crew’s versatility by also taking on the creation of ten distinct ocean “looks” for the show. These appeared across multiple episodes, mapping out the different environment tones including the movement of light rays and floating particles.

“Even with the distinct looks, establishing tone and continuity was crucial,” notes Adams. “We templated each to ensure that the various artists could maintain consistency across shots and episodes.”

To merge these practical and digital elements, the team employed advanced keying, despilling, and warping techniques. “Our focus was on creating a fully immersive experience,” explains Adams. “Every small detail, from reflections to scratches on the glass, contributed to the show’s authenticity.”

Watch the full VFX breakdown below: