Ingenuity Studios and its VFX work on Hulu's Washington Black series

Transforming the past through modern visual effects 🎬

Ingenuity Studios has played a crucial role in Hulu's miniseries Washington Black, contributing 378 visual effects shots that transport viewers to the 19th century. Their work ranged from transforming modern ports into historical settings to fully recreating 1830s London using CGI, creating detailed digital paintings that establish the era and location of each scene. This massive project required the collaboration of over 130 artists and the use of 359 TB of storage, demonstrating the scale and ambition of the endeavor.

Historical recreation and environmental transformations

One of the most significant challenges was transforming modern locations into 19th-century environments. The team used Houdini and Maya to replace contemporary elements like metal structures, modern signs, and urban infrastructure with digital historical equivalents. The port sequences required removing modern docks, adding traditional sailing ships, and recreating the port activity of the era with CGI characters and goods. Digital paintings (matte paintings) played a key role in extending sets and creating historically accurate backgrounds. ⚓

Narrative sequences and visual transitions

The initial ship sequences and page transitions stood out as central visual and narrative elements. These scenes—created with Nuke for compositing and Mocha for tracking—not only establish the series' visual tone but also function as narrative devices connecting key temporal events. The workflow integrated 2D and 3D animation to achieve smooth transitions that feel organic to the storytelling.

VFX don't decorate the story; they are the story when the past needs to breathe again.

Technical pipeline and production challenges

The technical pipeline combined multiple specialized software:

• Houdini for dynamic effects and environmental simulations
• Maya for modeling and animation of assets
• Nuke for final compositing and integration
• Mocha for planar tracking and removal of modern elements
• Photoshop for texturing and matte paintings

Managing 359 TB of data required a robust storage system and efficient transfer protocols between studios in Toronto, Los Angeles, and Vancouver.

Artistic collaboration and visual direction

VFX producer Tyler Shanklin highlighted the close collaboration with the series' directors to maintain visual coherence. Ingenuity's team worked with historical references—paintings, engravings, and architectural descriptions—to ensure accuracy in every digitally added element. Lighting and rendering were adjusted to match the practical photography, ensuring a seamless integration between real and digital elements.

The irony behind the visual magic

The most ironic aspect of the process was the need to erase the modern film crew—cameras, cranes, sound equipment—from scenes intended to be authentically historical. VFX artists became digital cleaners, removing any trace of modernity that could break the 19th-century illusion. Thus, the same technology that built the past also had to undo the present.

In the end, the true time travel was not Washington Black's, but the VFX team's, transforming terabytes into centuries. And if you look closely, you might see a 2023 pixel peeking out from between the 1830 cobblestones... but better not tell anyone. 😅