VFX uncovered: Senna (Scanline VFX for Netflix)

VFX house Scanline was the overall VFX supervisor as well as the vendor on Netflix’s biopic series, Senna.

What this meant was Scanline VFX supervisor Craig Wentworth and Scanline VFX producer Veronique Lauzon oversaw all the VFX vendors for this project, including Scanline.

The reel below represents Scanline’s VFX work only and does not include the other vendors. 

Scanline’s Vancouver and Seoul facilities worked on the VFX. The company created historic race track environments and F1 cars for some of Ayrton Senna’s most iconic races. It crafted car models, advertisements, track details, fan clothing, and flags to reflect the era of Senna’s career, spanning from 1984 to 1994.

Scanline used the Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez racetrack in Buenos Aires, Argentina, transforming the plate photography to represent four international tracks – Japan’s Suzuka, Portugal’s Estoril, Brazil’s Interlagos, and Italy’s Imola.

Two large-scale environments were constructed for Suzuka and Interlagos, complete with animated crowds and realistic foliage. Scanline provided digital matte painting environments for a fifth track, Monaco’s iconic Circuit de Monaco.

Scanline also worked on the look and feel of the cars, based on the context of their surroundings, including crowd attendance, weather, and the time of day of Senna’s races.

The company had to not only dress the environments but also add significant water effects, including rain, rooster tails, splashes, and lens effects.

The VFX house also built hero race cars for Ayrton Senna and his rival, French racer Alain Prost, while creating supporting cars for the races.

It added a range of FX, including dirt, smoke, flames, and the aforementioned rain and rooster tails. Full-CG racing shots were created as well.