Set in the MonsterVerse, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a streaming series focused on the creation of Monarch, the organization tasked to study and monitor the emergence of Titans in our world.
The Third Floor provided previs, techvis and postvis across the Season 1 production. Collaborating closely with VFX Supervisor Sean Konrad and VFX Producer Jessica Smith, The Third Floor team worked to visualize many of the dynamic and exciting key Titan sequences.
“One of the main goals was to introduce the world to several new strange-looking Titans and, of course, to plan some cool sequences with the big man himself, Godzilla,” Senior Visualization Supervisor Jourdan Biziou recalls. “One of the most pivotal sequences we worked on is the flashback on the Golden Gate Bridge in Episode 1. The scene sets up one of our main protagonists and her trauma and returns us to 2014, when Godzilla smashes through this notable landmark, killing many people who were unfortunate enough to be on the bridge at that time. The decision was made to show the action subjectively through Cate’s perspective and the immediate stakes she faced trying to save the children on her school bus. It was very important to keep the same cinematic language of the 2014 film, so we studied how to best make the new scene feel like a natural extension of that moment.“
Extensive previs was created for this sequence to depict the horror and carnage of this terrible moment. Techvis was then produced on the shots with VFX Supervisor Sean Konrad, utilizing a mock-up of a motion control base for the bus and tracking time of day to assist in matching the sun path and shadows. Through techvis, it was possible to consider the physical onset location, time of day, lenses and planned practical bus resources before filming to make production more efficient on the day.
“Once the sequences were filmed, production plates were passed along for us to carry out extensive postvis,” Biziou said. “Via this process, we were able to help fill in the edit with detailed temp versions of the shots before they were finalized by VFX.”
A number of other creatures were visualized as Titan sightings and action unfold in multiple episodes. This included visualization of the FrostVark, Ion Dragon, Endopedes, Brambleboar, Mantleclaw and other beasts.
