
22 August, 2019 - 08:02
FX Legion recently completed a complex mix of visual effects for History Channels new docudrama mini-series, The Food that Made America. The Burbank-based company worked on every phase of the production, from start to finish. Its team was on-site during locations scouting and on-set during production in New York, all the way through the final delivery of a show open assigned during the eleventh hour of production.
Produced by Lucky 8 out of New York, The Food that Built America tells the stories of visionaries - such as Milton Hershey, John and Will Kellogg, Henry Heinz, C.W. Post, the McDonald brothers - who built the brands and invented the technology that revolutionized the food industry. The docudrama recounts these titans roles in the reshaping of the countrys culinary landscape at the turn of the century, using dramatic reenactments that replicate the look of the period with spot-on accuracy.
Among VFX Legions most challenging tasks was building out present-day structures with large-scale set extension to recreate warehouses and factories from a by-gone era. Legion stepped in to meet another challenge when the plates originally shot didnt show off the Hershey factory and surrounding landscape to their best advantage. Its team built a fully digital replica of the factory and the vast landscape surrounding it - from the ground up. The shot recreated the style of the period architecture, as well as the documentary-like feel of the series.
Luck 8s Creative Director Yoshi Stone worked closely with Legions LA In-house VFX Supervisor Matthew Lynn and Creative Director James Hattin. They developed the look of the sets based on the technical scout sessions that VFX Legions New York-based On-Set Supervisor Eric Pascarelli attended.
Pascarelli made sure that Luck 8 had the shots Legions artists needed back in Burbank. The detailed descriptions and measurements of each shoot that he provided ensured that they got it right the first time and were able to turn around the all of the visual effects quickly and cost-effectively. VFX Legion used Zoom video conferencing to collaborate during every phase of the production, and to go over the continually evolving plan of action and ensure that the teams on both coasts were always on the same page.
Late in the game, Legion to create the show open graphics package. The team pitched a number of designs and styles of both treatments and logos. The companys LA team designed and animated the open, and fine-tuned it based on the clients editorial decisions.
The Food That Built America was a fixed cost show because of the way it was structured, says Hattin, Legions founder. It required the kind of practical solutions that our pioneering pipeline and forward-thinking approach to visual effects production was created to handle.
Working on a docudrama with Lucky 8, a New York-based company thats produced a prestigious roster of documentaries, was a great experience, adds Hattin. History Channel is home to a continuing line-up of documentaries and docudramas that captivate and engross audiences with dynamic programming about the past and present. Legions team really enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to work in this genre.
VFX Legion used a mix of equipment to create the shots for the series, including The Foundrys Nuke for compositing, Adobe Photoshop for matte painting, Redshift for 3D rendering, Autodesks Shotgun for project management, Autodesks Maya for 3D lighting and animation, motion graphic design was created using Adobe After Effects/Illustrator and Signiant Media Shuttle was used to transfer files.
For additional information about VFX Legion LA/B.C. and its services, visit www.VFXLegion.com, call 818-736-5855, or email contact@VFXLegion.com.
CREDITS:
Title: The Food That Built America
Type: VFX for Mini-Series/Docudrama
Airdates: August 11-13/History
Client: History Channel / NYC
Executive Producer: Jim Pasquarella
Executive Producer: Mary E. Donahue
Executive VP and Head of Programming: Eli Lehrer
Produced by: Lucky 8 / NYC
Director: Nick White
Executive Producers: Yoshi Stone, Greg Henry, Kim Woodard, Isaac Holub
Visual Effects by: VFX Legion / LA, B.C
Creative Director: James David Hatting
VFX Supervisor/Show Open: Matthew T. Lynn
On-Set VFX Supervisor/NY: Eric Pascarelli
3D Supervisor: Rommel S. Calderon
CG Dynamics: Eric Ebling
Compositing: Nick Guth
Compositing: Brad Moylan
Compositing: Eugen Olsen
Camera Tracking: Guy Delgado
Pipeline Tools: Brandon Rachal
Matte Painting: Marc Adamson
Matte Painting: Christian Haley
Matte Painting: Jim Hawkins
Matte Painting: Eric Mattson
Matte Painting: Yvonne Muinde
VFX Coordinator: Lexi Sloan
VFX Coordinator: Amanda VanDeCar
Bookkeeping: Michaela OBrien
Embedded video for VFX Legion Creates Effects For The Food That Built America on History Channel
Television
Americas United States
SJ Golden, vfxlegionla@yahoo.com
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
24/09/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) is supporting Virginia Public Media (VPM), the ...
24/09/2026
RED Digital Cinema's RED V-RAPTOR [X] and RED V-RAPTOR XL [X] cameras with the Phantom Track feature are the first cameras to receive GhostFrame Pro Certifi...
24/09/2026
Bringing together the full family of networks, FOX Sports is also adding Tubi, F...
24/09/2026
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has unveiled...
24/09/2026
The blog collects SVG's reporting on AI across U.S. and European sports broadcasting
Since SVG launched the AI Innovation Lab in April to advance the devel...
24/09/2026
SVG's annual TranSPORT conference, which will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 20 in...
24/09/2026
The self-built Master Control Room has cut streaming operations incident-respo...
24/09/2026
Ortana Media Group, the software systems integrator behind the Cubix workflow platform, has connected AudioShake's audio separation models to ScorePlay thro...
24/09/2026
AudioShake has released Multi-Speaker 2.0, the company's newest Multi-Speaker model, which removes 75% more noise and offers 32% better separation of overla...
24/09/2026
By Jon Morgan, Founder and Executive Producer, Ryval Studios
For Major League B...
24/09/2026
Spectrum SportsNet has revealed its comprehensive programming and live game broa...
24/09/2026
The Charlotte Hornets has unveiled new broadcast partnerships with Gray Media an...
24/09/2026
DAZN will be the exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming partner for the Detroit Pistons beginning with the 2026-27 season. Subscriptions are available at DAZN.c...
24/09/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL) has made an agreement with Spectrum that will allow Spectrum TV customers in the Minnesota Wild local broadcast territory to wa...
24/09/2026
The Carolina Hurricanes has reached a multi-year distribution agreement to provi...
24/09/2026
The St. Louis Blues has introduced Blue Note as the name of the new, exclusive ...
24/09/2026
Blue Jackets Hockey Network, the television home for Blue Jackets hockey, is coming to Spectrum TV under a new carriage agreement between the National Hockey Le...
24/09/2026
The next generation of multitrack recording for live sound
The latest version of Waves' dedicated live multitrack recording software delivers an array ...
24/09/2026
An idea machine for musicians
Described as an idea machine for musicians , the latest addition to Polyend's growing collection of guitar pedals combin...
24/09/2026
Alignment tool gains multitrack layout
Synchro Arts have just launched the latest version of their renowned time-alignment plug-in, and it's said to be ...
24/09/2026
Synth gains DAW Control & Ctrl-e integration
Expressive E have just released a major firmware update that brings some interesting new features to the Osmose...
24/09/2026
Rohde & Schwarz expands its system amplifier portfolio with the R&S SAM200 for a...
24/09/2026
September 24, 2026
The Hitachi Startup Challenge FY26 invites innovative startu...
24/09/2026
Download Now!
To receive a short case study showcasing NHK Technologies, Inc. (NT) s audio setup, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* Fir...
24/09/2026
Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America
Brie Clayton September 24, 2026
0 Comments
Brings three decades of broadcast e...
24/09/2026
UNIFACHA Expands Educational Program with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton September 24, 2026
0 Comments
Brazilian university empowers next generat...
24/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/09/2026
Viewers watching videos from the Austrian Parliament online will soon find it easier to verify the authenticity of the content. Big Blue Marble, an internationa...
24/09/2026
nsign, the digital signage SaaS platform built around its Simplify Complexity principle, is now officially certified for BRAVIA Professional Displays from Son...
24/09/2026
Encompass Digital Media today announced the successful migration of multiple Viaplay free-to-air channels, including TV3, TV6, TV8 and TV10, to its Altitude Sch...
24/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/09/2026
Music Supervisor, Composer, and Mixing Engineer Santiago Uribe has built a career around producing music for film and television, contributing to more than 40 p...
24/09/2026
The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) will hold a full-day cybersecurity summit focused on defending against growing cyber threats facing the broad...
24/09/2026
London, 24th September 2026: UKTV has commissioned an eighth series of Canal Boat Diaries (8x60') for U (u.co.uk) and U&YESTERDAY, with waterways explorer R...
24/09/2026
September 24th, 2026 TRIBECA FESTIVAL AND AT&T OPEN SUBMISSIONS FOR 10TH ANNIVE...
24/09/2026
Reinaldo Marcus Green, director of six-time Academy Award-nominated King Richard...
24/09/2026
From the buzz of your phone when a message arrives to surgeons being able to feel' the patients they are examining from hundreds of kilometres away, these ...
24/09/2026
As Q4 approaches, retailers enter the most critical sales window of the year the golden quarter.
Stretching from October through December, this period encomp...
24/09/2026
Key Takeaways
Harmonic's cOS virtualized platform enables Lightcurve to de...
24/09/2026
COLD Launches Insider Club on Supercast, Giving True Crime Fans Ad-Free Listenin...
24/09/2026
The home interiors retailer signs up for third year as sponsor
RT Commercial today announced that Harry Corry has signed up to a third year as sponsor of Live...
24/09/2026
When COVID-19 emerged, scientists had a crucial advantage: Decades of prior research on coronaviruses meant they understood the virus' key proteins well eno...
24/09/2026
RT Radio 1 Folk Awards Tickets on Sale
Dolores Keane to be inducted into the...