Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Remembering the legend: how Scanline VFX retold the SENNA story

13/01/2025

Craig Wentworth, overall VFX supervisor at Scanline VFX, tells TVBEurope how the spectacular sights and sounds of Formula 1 in the 80s and 90s were recreated for the Netflix miniseries, SENNA

By Matthew Corrigan

Published: January 13, 2025 Updated: January 14, 2025

Craig Wentworth, overall VFX supervisor at Scanline VFX, tells TVBEurope how the spectacular sights and sounds of Formula 1 in the '80s and '90s were recreated for the Netflix miniseries, SENNA

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>

Scanline VFX took on a dual role in the production of Netflix drama, SENNA. Explaining the approach taken by the company, Craig Wentworth, overall VFX supervisor, describes the two hats it was necessary to wear,

On the one hand, we provided quite typical visual effects services in the form of the creation of high-end VFX environments and shots in several key episodes. On the other, we functioned for the first time as a project management entity and consultant.

We call it Hub and Spoke,' , he tells TVBEurope, a service that allows us to bring our extensive expertise in complex VFX production to creative partners all over the world. In the case of SENNA, we provided technical guidance to the Brazilian team, and then oversaw the production, schedule, and finance of all aspects of final VFX in post.

This dictated the size of the team involved, says Wentworth, explaining the division of labour for the project. Our Hub and Spoke team consisted of 20 people, including myself, my production partner Vero Lauzon, our production manager Karina Zambelli, several co-ordinators, VFX editors, and a small in-house VFX team.

Working with us were a total of six vendors: Picma Post, Quanta Studios and Miagui were our three key Brazilian partners on the project. They combined for nearly 900 of our shots. NetFX, which is a global network of VFX talent connected via Netflix's infrastructure, produced close to 800 shots for the show.

And the team at ScanlineVFX, which numbered around 300 people, provided 390 VFX shots for several key races. Our in-house team and friends from Eyeline Studios filled out the balance of VFX work.

A total of 2089 VFX shots were created for the series' six episodes in a process that took almost a year, Wentworth explains, Scanline first began meaningful conversations with our client in early February 2023. That is when I came onboard. Main unit wrapped in mid-December that year. The last VFX shot was delivered at the end of September 2024. So we are looking at a 20-month partnership with our Brazilian friends.

For racing fans worldwide, Ayrton Senna was (and remains) an icon of the sport. Formula 1 itself was perhaps more visceral during the period, a feeling which SENNA manages to effectively convey.

I was most certainly a fan of Senna, and of Formula 1 of his era, says Wentworth. That said, his passing somewhat ended my love of the sport. I feel very lucky to have been able to bring Senna's era of racing back to life some 30 years later, and having done so has really re-ignited my passion for the sport at least the late 80s and 90s version.

Recreating racing cars which are now historic was a complex process, with every aspect requiring extensive research. An incredibly talented group of coach builders from Argentina, Crespi Formula 1, spent years reconstructing our cars, based on blueprints and scans of the original vehicles. It was very important to the production to be able to film race action practically, and so many of Senna's most famous cars were built for real, and constructed in a way that would allow us to mount cameras safely, but also drive at pretty high speeds.

We also had to create them digitally for many of our shots, and to fill out the rest of the field. So we scanned the production cars and built 1-to-1 twins of those in CG. These would then be re-dressed to look like other competitors as needed for the story. We also had what we called naked cars' driving around - basically just a chassis and wheels - to which we could add any body we wanted in CG.

Constantly striving for authenticity, the team referred to a large historical archive of footage provided by the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'automobile, the sport's governing body). With real events and people being depicted, ensuring authenticity was essential in this production.

One of the most inspired choices of our director and showrunner, Vicente Amorim, was to intercut our version of events with the actual FIA [footage] from the day, says Wentworth. In many respects, then, VFX had nowhere to hide in terms of portraying accuracy. So unlike, for example, a more fantasy-based' production, we really had to sweat the details. Our digital environments needed to look just like they did in the FIA footage. Our crowds and signage had to match. Ultimately, we paid much more attention to historical accuracy overall.

Virtual production was used extensively on the show, he continues, it was utilised for all close-up footage of our actors driving during racing sequences. We built virtual versions of all of our tracks in Unreal Engine, essentially building the ultimate racing simulator. We surrounded our production cars with screens, and synchronised their movements with a motion base, also driven by Unreal Engine.

Wentworth evidently enjoyed working on SENNA, and is quick to praise the team behind the production. I never really looked at the work as a challenge, to be honest. We had very typical VFX problems to solve: we had set extensions, digital environments, digital vehicles, crowds All of this has been done before. What sets this type of work apart is the quality of the work, its authenticity and how it serves the story.

Our real overall challenge, if I am to be frank, was to produce something
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/remembering-the-legend-how-s...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

10/07/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 23: Nashville Predators Teri Johnson - Throwing a Bash on Broadway

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

10/07/2026

Fujifilm Announces FUJINON GF19-35mmT3.5 PZ OIS WR Cinema Power Zoom Lens

FUJIFILM North America Corporation has announced the FUJINON GF19-35mmT3.5 PZ OIS WR, a cinema power zoom lens for the GFX System with native G Mount. The lens ...

10/07/2026

Dalet Releases Long-Term Supported Update to Dalet Flex

Dalet has announced a new Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex, expanding AI capabilities, workflow automation, and integration with Dalia, Dalet'...

10/07/2026

Blackmagic Design Releases Fairlight Live Audio Mixer Software

Blackmagic Design has released Fairlight Live, a free software-based broadcast audio mixer for Mac and Windows, available for download now. Simultaneously, the ...

10/07/2026

FloSports and USA South Athletic Conference Announce Exclusive Media Rights Partnership

FloSports and the USA South Athletic Conference have announced an exclusive medi...

10/07/2026

Daktronics Installs LED Video Board at Field of Dreams Ballpark in Dyersville, Iowa

Daktronics has manufactured and installed an LED video display at Field of Dream...

10/07/2026

Registration Opens for NAB Show New York 2026, October 21-22 at the Javits Center

Registration is now open for NAB Show New York 2026, taking place October 21-22 ...

10/07/2026

Sphere and Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix Announce Five-Year Partnership Extension

Sphere Entertainment Co. and the Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix have an...

10/07/2026

CBS Sports and Asian Football Confederation Announce U.S. Media Rights Agreement

CBS Sports and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have announced a media rights partnership covering the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 and the AFC U23 Asi...

10/07/2026

Sony Electronics Announces RX10 V with AI Autofocus and 4K 120p Video

Sony Electronics has announced the RX10 V, the fifth generation of its RX10 all-in-one camera series. The camera will be available in August 2026 at a suggested...

10/07/2026

Chyron Releases PRIME 5.4 with Newsroom Workflow Expansion and New Playout Options

Chyron has announced PRIME 5.4, an update to its unified graphics, playout, and ...

10/07/2026

Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Gene Mikell Dies at 87

The nine-time Emmy Award-winning video engineer was a pioneer of NASCAR in-car cameras and a longtime fixture in FOX Sports' video-control operation...

10/07/2026

Fubo Appoints Alisa Bowen as Chief Executive Officer

FuboTV Inc. has announced the appointment of Alisa Bowen as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 10. Bowen succeeds David Gandler, who co-founded the company...

10/07/2026

Ratings Roundup: USMNT-Belgium on FOX Top Soccer Telecast in U.S. History; Mexico-England on Telemundo Sets Spanish-Language Record

Every entry on Nielsen's Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts for the week of...

10/07/2026

BravesVision GM Jeff Cravens on Launching MLBs Newest Team-Owned Network in 35 Days

The Braves opted to keep production in-house rather than hand it off to MLB...

10/07/2026

PBR Teams Ready To Roll at CSU for Opening Weekend 2026

Drones, jibs, robos are part of the expanded camera complement for the Professional Bull Riders series PBR Teams' 2026 season, with a 10-team field competi...

10/07/2026

20 Years Later, We're All Still Part of the Little Miss Sunshine Family

(L-R) Michael Arndt, Paul Dano, Toni Collette, Valerie Faris, Abigail Breslin, Jonathan Dayton, and Greg Kinnear attend the Park City Legacy program screening o...

10/07/2026

AES Show Nashville: Early Bird registration opens

Discounted rates available through 27 August 2026 The Audio Engineering Society (AES) have announced that Early Bird registration is now open for the AES Sh...

10/07/2026

Sony introduce the IER-M500

New in-ear monitors to launch in August 2026 Sony have announced the upcoming launch of a new pair of in-ear monitors that promise to deliver a secure, stab...

10/07/2026

Apogee CRAS Symphony Mkii Upgrade Case Study

Why CRAS Upgraded to Symphony I/O MK II When an audio school runs studios all day, every day, gear doesn't just need to sound good , it needs to survive rea...

10/07/2026

FreeCast Cities To Stream Local TV, Premium Channels

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Hey Man, Cheech & Chong's Last Movie Rolls With SNS EVO

Hey Man, Cheech & Chong's Last Movie Rolls With SNS EVO Melanie Ciotti July 10, 2026 0 Comments Richard Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong have long b...

10/07/2026

Alex Zarfati's Fail Safe Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Alex Zarfati's Fail Safe Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton July 10, 2026 0 Comments Camera's full frame sensor supports anamorphic s...

10/07/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ing...

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

10/07/2026

N.Y. State Broadcasters Association Selects Hall of Fame Class of 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Chyron's PRIME 5.4 Brings Template Experience to More Newsrooms

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Registration Opens for 2026 NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

IAB Releases Redefining Media Types' Standard for Public Comment

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Wedotv FAST Channels Launch on TiVo Platforms in Europe

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Sage Offers Guidance on EAS Password Changes

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

New RT documentary explores Irish-led efforts to build bridges

New RT documentary explores Irish-led efforts to build bridges in divided Cyprus More than a Game: From D1 to Pyla airs Monday 13 July More Than a Game: Fro...

09/07/2026

Omaha Productions Goes All-In as World Series of Poker Main Event Returns to ESPN

With 50+ cameras, three trucks, 60+ EVS channels, RFID hole-card workflows, and ...

09/07/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Dana Shearer, Syracuse University

A recent graduate from Westchester, NY, this experienced technician has already started her first gig in the industry, as a REMI A2 Comms Specialist at ESPN In...

09/07/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lightcasts Andreas Kisslinger on the Role of Automation, Cloud-Based Workflows in Streaming

Live sports production is a fast-paced industry with no signs of slowing down. W...

09/07/2026

TV Skyline, thinXpool, DMC Production Collaborate on Deutsche Telekom's World Cup From NYC

From a rooftop studio in Manhattan, multiple Germany-based companies share respo...

09/07/2026

FOX One and Overtime Announce Creator Series Race to Glory for FIFA World Cup 2026

Overtime has announced a content partnership with FOX One to produce Race to Glo...

09/07/2026

Ross Production Services Standardizes on Clear-Com Intercom Across Mobile Production Fleet

Clear-Com has announced that Ross Production Services (RPS) has standardized on ...

09/07/2026

NetApp Returns as Presenting Partner of 2026 NFL Madrid Game

The NFL has announced that NetApp will return as Presenting Partner of the NFL Madrid Game, featuring the Atlanta Falcons against the Cincinnati Bengals at the ...

09/07/2026

The R&A and Cisco Announce Multi-Year Network Infrastructure Partnership

The R&A and Cisco have announced a multi-year partnership making Cisco the Official Network Supplier of The R&A and its Championships. Cisco will deploy AI-read...

09/07/2026

Fox Television Stations, Extreme Reach, and LTN Complete Live Syndication of 25 Words or Less LIVE

Fox Television Stations, Extreme Reach (XR), and LTN have announced the completi...

09/07/2026

Wynn Records Launches Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Platform Powered by Kiswe

Kiswe has announced a partnership with Wynn Records to launch the Wynn Records Network streaming platform, debuting Saturday, July 11 with a Salita Promotions b...

09/07/2026

NEP Europe Announces Multi-Year Agreement as Wimbledon Broadcast Services Provider

NEP Europe has announced a new multi-year agreement with Wimbledon Broadcast Ser...

09/07/2026

Thropic Games Raises Pre-Seed Round Led by The Famous Group

Thropic Games, a company offering casual mobile games tied to fan fundraising for sports programs, has announced a pre-seed funding round led by The Famous Grou...

09/07/2026

Game Creek Video Purchases 10 Grass Valley K-Frame Switchers for Fleet Expansion

Game Creek Video has reached an agreement with Grass Valley to purchase 10 K-Frame production switchers as part of a two-year fleet expansion. Two systems have ...

09/07/2026

Gravity Media Powers ITVs FIFA World Cup Coverage with Three-Hub Remote Production

Gravity Media is delivering a three-hub remote production workflow for ITV's...

09/07/2026

Report: North American Broadcast Journalists Spend Up to 75% of Time on Technical Workflows

A new report from Quickplay and Caretta Research, The Broadcaster Revolution Wi...

09/07/2026

DAZN to Broadcast Esports World Cup Free to Global Audiences

DAZN, the world's leading sports entertainment platform, has announced a long-term strategic partnership with the Esports World Cup Foundation to serve as t...