Anelia Asparuhova started her visual effects career in 2001, contributing to major studios like Cinesite, Framestore, and MPC before joining DNEG in 2021. Her credits include John Carter, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, and The School for Good and Evil.
In 2022, Sebastian von Overheidt discussed the visual effects crafted by DNEG for Uncharted. He later contributed to the VFX of Haunted Mansion.
How did you and DNEG get involved on this show?
Anelia Asparuhova (AA): DNEG was brought on at the start of post-production as the main VFX partner for The Gorge. We were a good fit for the project as we have vast experience in creating CG environments and FX explosions. Production VFX Supervisor Erik Nordy and I had previously worked together, and I was thrilled to be involved with his next project.
How was your collaboration with VFX Supervisor Erik Nordy and VFX Producer Rich Yeomans?
AA: It was great! Erik had done a ton of prep work on the previz of the gorge and provided scans of rock formations and forest footage, he went above and beyond to give us as much material as possible for the gorge environment.
Sebastian von Overheidt (SVO): We worked really closely with Erik and the editor to fine-tune the animation and choreography of the quadcopter drones, making sure every movement fit seamlessly into the scene.
How did you organize the work between you?
AA: Me and my team were responsible for creating the upper gorge environment, which consisted of the gorge itself with its surrounding mountains, the towers, the gorge fog and the waterfall. As well as the wide environment, we created a full CG forest environment for the end shots where Levi runs, chased by the shockwave, and jumps into the waterfall. I also supervised the explosions at the end of the movie, from the chain of smaller explosions to the final explosion which obliterates the gorge and its surroundings.
SVO: My team tackled some wide environments too, but most of our work focused on sequences happening up close within the larger world. A lot of it was high-energy action, like Levi zipping across the gorge on the zip line or the quadcopter chase weaving through the forest. We also had shots that needed custom gorge walls, some really nice fog simulations, and a few tricky CG interiors inside the towers that required bespoke extensions. Plenty of challenges, but that’s what makes it fun!
What are the sequences made by DNEG?
AA: We worked on the ‘Upper Gorge’ – the sequences where Drasa and Levi spend their days in the towers and get to know each other, the ones where Levi flies over the gorge fog on a zipline, the digidouble takeover of Drasa jumping into the fog to save Levi, everything that happens after they climb back up from the ‘Lower Gorge’ – the drone chase and all the explosions.
How did you approach designing the vast valley of forests and mountains to ensure a sense of both grandeur and isolation in The Gorge?
AA: We had to make sure that the area felt isolated from the rest of the world – a place that random people wouldn’t just stumble upon while hiking – so we surrounded it with high mountains from all sides. There were also natural obstacles on both sides of the gorge, the waterfall on one side and the steep rock formation on the other, which explained why Drasa and Levi couldn’t just walk around the gorge to meet each other. These looming mountains helped create the feeling of isolation and loneliness the characters felt throughout the movie.
Can you describe the process of creating the hidden gorge? What techniques did you use to integrate it naturally into the environment while maintaining its mysterious feel?
AA: It was important to establish where in the world our gorge was, even though the location remains undisclosed in the movie, so that we could base it on existing geological formations from that region. In the story the gorge is guarded both by Western and Eastern forces, so we reasoned that it would have to be somewhere where both parties would be equally endangered by it. Central-Northern Europe seemed to fit this description. We hired a geologist as a consultant in the initial few weeks of the build as we wanted to make sure our choice of rocks and vegetation, as well as the look of the gorge structure itself, was geologically plausible and we weren’t just making things up. We started with the previs geometry that Erik provided us with, which used low resolution scans from Norway as a base. Norway has some stunning gorges, but we also found gorges in Bulgaria and Greece that had the look we were looking for – a combination of coniferous and deciduous vegetation which seemed suitable for our selected region.
What role did lighting play in enhancing the look and atmosphere of the gorge, especially with the contrast between the open landscape and the mist-covered areas?
AA: Lighting was an important part of enhancing the environment, but also a powerful story telling tool to set the mood for the different scenes – from the gloomy look during their monotone everyday life in the beginning of the movie, to the romantic sunset and exaggerated moonlight during their first date. One of the challenges we faced was the height of the surrounding mountains, and the ability to show a sunset or a sunrise, as in reality the sun would have been behind the mountains. We briefly considered adding some gaps in the mountain tops to let the sunlight through, but that would have compromised the impenetrable look of the gorge, so we cheated some light angles instead – it was part of the ‘movie magic’ to support the story. We used mist pockets in between the trees and haze in the distance to add levels of complexity and depth to the scenes.
SVO: Lighting is pretty much the key tool for setting the mood of a sequence and making CG extensions feel like they truly belong alongside real photography. The trick is balancing two things – on one hand, nailing the realism so it blends seamlessly with the live-action footage, and on the other, making sure it looks visually stunning from a creative standpoint. It’s the same thought process a DP would have on set, even for non-VFX scenes. For the gorge environment, we put a lot of effort into rendering the atmosphere – the ‘haze’ – so it reacted naturally to light. It picked up shadows from the landscape and behaved just like real atmospheric depth would. Another subtle but powerful trick for large-scale environments is using cloud shadows. Even if they’re barely noticeable, they do a great job of defining the terrain and adding depth and interest to the lighting.
How did you ensure that the two observation towers felt grounded within the environment while maintaining their distinct visual identity?
AA: We added layers of damage to the towers, the walls under them, and the spiky fence which spans across the whole length of the gorge. We wanted everything to look like it had been there for over 70 years and had gone through numerous attacks and repairs. In some parts we allowed nature to take over so that the structures looked integrated. In addition to the different shapes of each tower, we added some distinct landmarks in the walls under the towers, and each side had a different look of the surrounding forest, with the dense coniferous trees on the west side and the sparse mixed forest on the east.
What challenges did you encounter when blending practical and digital elements for the gorge environment, and how did you overcome them?
AA: There was a practical pathway with forest behind which led to the base of the tower – the part where Levi meets JD and sees the towers for the first time. We needed to put mountains behind the trees, which wasn’t an easy task. Erik, of course, had foreseen the issue and had added mist to the scene which helped a lot with blending the background, but still we did a lot of rotoscoping to separate the foreground.
SVO: One of the trickier challenges we needed to solve was lighting deep in the forest, where some sequences transitioned from overcast to sunny across multiple shots. Since we were extending a lot of plates with CG forest in the background, it wasn’t just about matching each plate individually, we had to make sure the lighting worked consistently across the whole cut. On top of that, we had full CG shots in between that needed to blend seamlessly and still feel completely realistic.
Another big challenge in mixing practical and digital elements was Levi’s arrival after the moment he zipped across to finally meet Drasa in person. Drasa’s angle was all practical: real forest, natural mist, dappled light filtering through the trees onto the ground. But when we flipped to Levi’s reverse angle, he was shot against a blue screen with completely different lighting, and we had to replace the entire background with our CG gorge environment. It’s a key moment in the movie, where the audience is locked in on these two characters, so the VFX had to be invisible. Blending effects into shots like these is as much fun as it is challenging!
How did you achieve the dynamic look of the gorge’s fog, ensuring it remained both natural and menacing throughout the film?
AA: We referenced a lot of naturally occurring pockets of mist and fog in between mountains and gorges. It was important to select the right level of detail, too little would have made the fog look flat and everything seem miniature, too much and it could end up being too busy and distracting. We added a very slow motion – as the fog was a constant presence throughout the movie, we wanted it to be a subtle backdrop which doesn’t compete with the action.
SVO: Whenever we had unusual angles on the fog – like Levi zip-lining over it, dropping into it, or the quadcopters rising through it – we added extra elements to bring in more detail and parallax. This gave the fog a greater sense of depth and realism, making sure it reacted naturally to the camera movement and felt truly integrated into the scene.
Were there any specific simulation techniques or custom tools developed to control the movement and density of the fog in various scenes?
AA: Once the team developed the overall look and motion of the fog, it was a fairly low-maintenance asset for most of the movie. We did a very long simulation which we used in each shot, with an offset so that it didn’t look repetitive. When the big explosion happened we did a custom simulation for each shot. We reasoned that most of the fog would evaporate in the high temperature, but we also wanted to give it a sense of a radial dispersal as the evaporation happened.
SVO: For the quadcopters rising out of the fog, we had to take a more customized approach to the simulation. Since the camera was positioned right above the fog’s surface as the drones emerged, we couldn’t just rely on the generic fog setup. We needed a more detailed simulation to capture the interaction with the rotor wash and the drone animation, making sure everything felt physically accurate and seamlessly integrated into the shot.
What was the design philosophy behind creating the combat drones, and how did you strike a balance between realism and a futuristic aesthetic?
SVO: The art department had built a practical drone for an SFX scene, so when we started we already had a solid scale reference to work from. From there, we researched the right type of gun to mount and figured out what the flight dynamics of a drone that size should look like. For the design, the brief was clear. It needed to look strong and heavy-duty enough to carry the gun and ammo, but also modern, tactical, and properly worn-in. We put a ton of detail into the rig as well, making sure every little arm on the ‘wings’ moved and adjusted dynamically to sell a realistic flight motion.
For the helicopter, how did you simulate the interactions between its movement and the surrounding environment, particularly with the fog and wind effects?
AA: We added elements of the fog swirling around the helicopter in some of the shots where it gets swept by the shockwave, but they had to be very subtle as the main driving force was the shockwave itself. And, of course, many layers of smoke, fire and sparks when it hit the gorge wall. We also did ground dust and leaf simulations as the helicopter took off from the tower base.
SVO: Same with the scene where the helicopter lands next to the tower, the entire shot was CG. We simulated the interaction with the ground and the surrounding forest, making sure the downwash kicked up debris and affected the environment realistically.
How did you handle the sequences where both the helicopter and drones are engaged in action scenes, ensuring the choreography felt intense and believable?
AA: The helicopter runaway and ultimate destruction was a fun task. We knew we’d have to destroy it at the end, so we built it with that in mind. We added internal details for the moment where it hits the gorge wall and the tail breaks off. We wanted its flight to show how it gradually lost control before being totally overpowered by the shockwave. We timed that with the very hectic practical interior shots which helped with the intensity of the moment. And all the shockwave layers of dust and debris flying past it helped with the sense of the massive force it was up against.
SVO: The quadcopter drone chase was carefully blocked out and animated with the action and scene progression in mind. We paid close attention to height and attack angles to ensure everything flowed seamlessly in the cut. We also had to match the drones’ line of fire with the SFX from the practical shoot, often replacing it with CG FX to nail the right angles for tracers, tree splinters, and impact details. And of course, the two drones that Drasa takes down, along with their crash behind her in the forest, were fully CG as well.
How did you conceptualize the nuclear explosion to ensure it was visually impactful while respecting the overall tone of the film?
AA: We found a few nuclear test videos – a very helpful reference, albeit a bit disturbing to watch. However, all of them happened radially on a flat surface and, in our case, we needed to figure out how the explosion would behave when triggered several hundred meters below. As it hits and destroys the gorge walls the force would, to some extent, redirect upwards as a funnel causing a strong ripple effect on the surface.
What techniques did you use to simulate the shockwave and subsequent environmental destruction from the explosion, and how did you integrate these elements into the surrounding landscape?
AA: We used many elements to give the explosion the complexity it needed – the core of the explosion, the Whilson cloud, and the layers of smoke, dust and debris of the shockwave. We had a video reference of one of the nuke tests, where you see a house and a row of trees moments before they get hit by the shockwave. You see how everything starts heavily smoking at first, and then the trees bend under the force of the outer layers of the shockwave, before finally being hit by it. We used this approach at a different scale and level of detail throughout the whole explosion sequence – the close ups of the towers being destroyed, the shots with the shockwave chasing Levi off the cliff, as well as the wide explosion shots.
Were there any memorable moments or scenes from the film that you found particularly rewarding or challenging to work on from a visual effects standpoint?
AA: Seeing such a big, complex task as a full CG environment come to life was incredibly rewarding. And of course, blowing up everything we had previously built in the end was a lot of fun!
SVO: Making big environment shots look photorealistic and visually stunning is always satisfying, it’s like capturing an epic view. Drasa’s jump off the cliff was a particularly tricky shot, with a seamless digi-double takeover and complex comp work involved. Seeing the final result come together was hugely rewarding for the whole team.
Looking back on the project, what aspects of the visual effects are you most proud of?
AA: I was very pleased how everything turned out, but what I’m most proud of is my team – how well everyone collaborated and contributed to all the creative and technical aspects of this project. I got to work with so many wonderful and talented people, each one of them incredibly excited and motivated to do their best.
SVO: I’m always proud of what our teams pull off and the relentless attention to detail they bring to every shot. It’s something that isn’t always obvious from the outside – just how focused and tenacious artists have to be, on top of the incredible skill and talent they bring to the table. Our teams are spread across the world, working remotely on massive, high-quality VFX projects. The logistics and communication alone are impressive, with hundreds of artists collaborating seamlessly. With a bit of distance after delivering a show, when I finally get to watch the movie in a theater or on a streaming platform, I always take a moment to reflect on the journey and just how cool the final result turned out.
How long have you worked on this show?
AA: Just under a year.
SVO: Around seven months.
What’s the VFX shots count?
AA: DNEG delivered around 750 shots.
What is your next project?
AA: I can’t disclose this yet, I’m afraid.
SVO: Sorry, I can’t share that just yet.
A big thanks for your time.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
DNEG: Dedicated page about The Gorge on DNEG website.
© Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2025
