Interview with a Vampire Season 2: a young man sweeps up as he looks into a mirror with white swirling writing.

Interview With the Vampire: Season 2

Led by VFX Supervisor Pedro Sabrosa, Framestore crafted blood gore and more to capture the emotional intensity of the second instalment of Interview With a Vampire

Environments
Visual Effects Supervisor
Effects Simulation

Following the chaotic events of the previous season, Interview With a Vampire: Season 2 picks up right where Season 1 left off. This season follows protagonists Louis and Lestat across different time periods, delving deeper into the characters from Anne Rice’s famous novel.

Framestore’s team was tasked with creating impressive visual effects for this series, including fully CG and DMP environments, as well as extensive effects work involving fire, explosions, blood, and gore. There were circa one hundred shots to be intricately executed and while the characters are the main focus, the visual effects remained crucial.

 

Interview_With_the_Vampire_Season2

One standout shot involved adding blood, tears, and redness to the vampire's eyes. 

“Though more subtle than some of the other work we had done, adding blood tears to the vampire’s eyes really helped heighten the drama and emotion of these scenes,” said Pedro Sabrosa. “Although not difficult for us to execute, these tears augment the actor’s performance and are poignant in the story.”

There is a lot of emotional chemistry between the two main characters, and much of the work focused on heightening and enhancing those moments. The team aimed to create invisible effects that amplify the performances without altering the actors' original work, subtly raising the emotional impact of each scene. 

Interview_With_the_Vampire_Season2
Interview_With_the_Vampire_Season2

A lot of reference was gathered beforehand and discussed with the studio-side VFX Supervisor, Ted Rae, and VFX Producer, Glenn Kelly, to give Framestore’s artists a clear guide for their FX work.

“Most scenes were shot with practical elements, and we used CG environments sparingly, always tying our work to real footage, and there was always a real reference to guide us, ensuring everything felt realistic, ” said Pedro Sabrosa. “For example, when a skull dissolves into dust, it's lit properly to blend seamlessly with the real environment. This method helped maintain a sense of realism even within the fantastical setting.”

Interview_With_the_Vampire_Season2
Interview_With_the_Vampire_Season2

The show also featured scenes, such as a character walking out of a burning building, seeking revenge. Despite the grand and dramatic effects, everything remained grounded in reality, avoiding anything over the top, with the team always trying to make their work as invisible as possible. 

“You need to art-direct the flames, deciding on their placement, intensity, appearance, and exposure, along with all other elements,” said Pedro Sabrosa. “This involves mixing CGI effects with real elements to create a cohesive and organic look.”

"It was a very positive and creative experience throughout the project. Our team was wonderful, and we worked exceptionally well together,” added Pedro Sabrosa. “The collaboration with the client was smooth and based on trust, making the creative process pleasant and productive for everyone involved."

Interview_With_the_Vampire_Season2
Interview_With_the_Vampire_Season2

Credits

Production Company
AMC
VFX Supervisor
Ted Rae
VFX Producer
Glenn Kelly
VFX Coordinator London
Clementine Llyod
VFX Coordinator London
Rebecca King
VFX Coordinator Canada
Haley McLane
VFX Editor
Tom Fidler
VFX
Framestore
VFX Supervisor
2D Supervisor
Niki Ryan
CG Supervisor
Erik Weaver Pronk
VFX Producer
Donya Sonkor
VFX Coordinator
Robyn Borrageiro
Executive Producer, Episodic
Julie Long
Creative Director, Episodic
Look Development
Nikola Yordanov
P&R Supervisor
Melvin Pillai
Paint & Roto
Asher Hun, Maxwell Lane, Zac Makey
Layout & Matchmove Supervisor
Gowri Shankar Gopinathan
Layout
Gary Seto, Zoe Woods, Micaela Arslanian
Asset Supervisor
Adam Smith
Assets
Khaled Sabry, Florian Rigolet
CFX
Jack Hubbard, Saabir Pinkney
Animator
Harry McCusker-Bland, Rocky Vanoost, Bruno Busnikay
Rigging Supervisor
Brad Noble
Rigging
Maya Dumond
DMP
Harry Wormald
FX Supervisor
Zybrand Jacobs
FX
Alex Marlow, Cosku Ozdemir, Jane Sun, Tobias Andersen, Eduard Schulze-Battmann
Lighting
Giovanni Bianchet, Eleonora D'Onofrio
Comp
Min-Hui Chang, Greg Gaskins, Yanru Yin, Julia Caram, Guy Lubin, Dan Cairnie, Matt Thomas, Alex Ling, Moray Caldwell, Travis Porter, Simon Stoney, John Sellings, Michael Baker, Mirko Morciano, Richard Higham, Jack Pond, Jyoti Tiwari, Michael Walton, Kotry