SEAL Team Series Finale: How Cause and FX Brought the Action to Life
OCTOBER 25 2024
We’re going to quote ScreenRant here, as they captured this perfectly: “The end of SEAL Team is finally here, and the series finale is as emotional as anyone predicted. Paramount + military drama, created by Benjamin Cavell, premiered in September 2017 and ran for seven seasons before concluding in October 2024”.
The seventh season saw our team at Cause and FX spring into action. Led by VFX Supervisor Josh Spivack and Alex Schade, our crew were thrilled to be part of the production. Who doesn’t love intense action sequences, with guns, gore and explosives?!
David Boreanaz’s Bravo Team leader Jason Hayes, and the SEAL Team “are unleashed on a final mission involving a return to Afghanistan”. Reading between the lines, that means rockets, bullets and weaponry!
With Spivack having solid experience in this show, he brought to us the vision and excitement that we love him for. Basically, we couldn’t wait to get started!
One key sequence for our VFX team was the destruction of the yacht. Set against the tranquil backdrop of a marina, this slow-motion scene had one goal: protect the hero, destroy the boat.
Our team jumped into action. Using LiDAR scans of the vessel we “crafted a narrative of the explosion, illustrating its journey from the bridge down to the lower decks. We designed bulkheads, corridors, and cabins to simulate multiple exit points for the blast, allowing us to portray an explosion that expanded, destroyed, and eventually broke free from the superstructure.” {link this paragraph to the ST case study page}
You guessed it, debris soared into the air, blending with the plumes of devastation. The calm marina water became our canvas, illuminated by the dynamic light of the blazing ship as it lit up the night sky.
Spivack excels at knowing when to ramp up the intensity. We brainstormed cost-effective ways to heighten the stakes. A series of holes throughout the ship’s hull allowed us to erupt fire from the sides. With our explosion procedurally simulated in Houdini, the FX department could seamlessly introduce these new portals for the flames.
Haven’t seen the series? We highly recommend it. You can read about the series on Variety and a range of other places. Warning, they do contain spoilers!
