In 2024, Everett Burrell took us behind the scenes of the visual effects that shaped the final season of The Umbrella Academy. Soon after, he pivoted dramatically in tone and scale, teaming up with Sam Raimi for his latest feature, Send Help.
How was the collaboration with Director Sam Raimi?
It was a true creative experience with Sam and his very close team, he lovely nicknamed “The Brain Trust”. That included Zainab Azizi (producer), Bob Murawski (editor), Bill Pope (D.P), Eric Hefferon (1st A.D.), Korey Cauchon (VFX producer) and me. We started off with a deep dive into the script and all of Sam’s storyboards. As new department heads came on board from Australia and Thailand, we included them into the mix.
How did you choose and split the work amongst the VFX Studios?
Our biggest challenge was to find a VFX company to handle the complicated Boar hunt scene. Luckily ILM came to the rescue and agreed to do all of the Boar shots. We were then able to place Fin Design + Effects, in Sydney on the plane crash, high ridge and the Bradley raft escape scenes. The rest of the VFX scenes were awarded to KOJO, FOLKS, BOT VFX, Level-Up and Vitality VFX.
Send Help really opens with a spectacular plane crash into the ocean, how early were the visual effects involved in designing and previsualizing this sequence?
When I came on the project in early August of 2024, Sam had already storyboarded almost the entire film and one of our first tasks together as a team was to bring on The Third Floor for pre-vis. Sam then directed the pre-vis team for the plane crash and start providing rough blocking. We would then give the raw pre-vis shots our editor Bob Murawski and would cut things together with music and sound effects to start building the scene for Sam to evaluate.
What were the main creative and technical challenges in making the crash feel both massive and terrifying while remaining grounded and believable?
We looked at a lot of plane crashes in real life as well as plane crashes in various films. Sam wanted something very unique to his style, and I think the The Third Floor pre-vis really helped give it a terrifying feel that Sam wanted. Then once we got to the planning stage on our set piece built in Sydney, Australia. The team now expanded with our production designer Ian Gracie, special effects supervisor Dan Oliver and stunt coordinator John Walton. We started planning out safely, how to rock the plane interior set on airbags and remove sections of walls to get air cannons placed for the high wind effects. Any debris that flew around was planned to be CG based on scans of real props made by the art department. This kept things safe for our cast and stunt doubles.
Part of the crash is experienced from inside the aircraft, how did you approach blending live-action, practical elements, and CG to maintain realism in such a confined space?
Our director of photography, Bill Pope and his team started blocking out shots in rehearsals using an iPhone and the app Artemis. This allowed for safe rehearsals and helped create a more adynamic handheld feel to the scene. It also helped us understand the cutoff point between practical effects and visual effects. The main issue was safety for our cast and crew, noting could fly around the interior that may injure somebody.
Water is a central element in this sequence; how did your teams handle large-scale ocean simulations, turbulence, and interaction with the aircraft?
We started with the pre-vis from The Third Floor as our foundation. Then Fin Design in Sydney started blocking out each shot. Once the timing of the Jet’s movements was approved by Sam. Then water simulations were started, but we had constant revisions.
A lot of what drives Sam’s decisions is the sound design. We had to work in reverse, normally picture drives sound. But Sam had specific moments where he had his sound team design the shot first then VFX had to follow the sound design.
Once the story shifts to the deserted island, how was the island conceived visually, and what references guided its overall look and mood?
Our main scripted island design reference was based on our real island in Phuket called Ko Hong. We shot several days in and around that island. We also did a very detailed drone LIDAR of the entire island. Plus, several days of just VFX drone plates from every possible angle and sun light direction. It was a constant VFX task to design the island around each scene to follow the storytelling. A great discussion with our music composer, Danny Elfman that came from one of the music spotting sessions. Danny was trying to articulate how the Island should look with Sam in the room. I read between the lines and said, “You want more Skull Island and less Gilligan’s Island”. I got a small applause…. very small.
Can you walk us through the creation of the island’s cliffside and how scale, erosion, and geography were established in CG?
The High Ridge was a set built on stage at the Disney Studios in Sydney. Surrounded by a 280-degree, 40 foot tall Blue Screen. We had the entire set LIDAR scanned by Myriad Studios in Sydney. We shot those High Ridge scenes first on stage and we had great guide how to match the sunlight when we got to Thailand. Working with the VFX plate unit, we shot drone plates in a sphere, 360 degrees, at 250 feet in the air. From a specific beach in Phuket that would match the world Sam wanted to see below.
Then Fin Design would build and extend the Island around our drone plates.
How did you ensure visual continuity between the real elements and the digital extensions of the island and its surroundings?
That was a huge challenge as Sam really did not mind if things were sort of not logical in terms of geography, as long as it looked tropical and served the story. Ian Gracie or production designer provided a great map of our fictional island. This was our guide, which way was north, south…etc. But as the cut evolved, we realized that the position of certain parts of the island had to be modified. The X-Rock that marks the other side of the island, changed positions quite a bit in the cut.
There is a very intense hunting and combat sequence involving a wild boar, how did you approach the creature work from a VFX standpoint?
Sam had done extensive Storyboards with his artist, Doug Lefler very early on. We used those as a guide with Bill Pope and shot stunt-vis with an iPhone using the app Artemis, again. A full day of stunt-vis in prep at the jungle location outside of Sydney. The stunt-vis was very valuable, helping all of us understand the action. Our editor Bob Murawski took that footage from the iPhone and cut the scene together for Sam’s approval. This was quite fun to watch as the Boar was just a proxy stand in, and that got a few chuckles. Sam loved it, and once it was shown to Rachel our lead actor. She was onboard 100%, and the stunt-vis really proved that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Was the boar fully CG, partially practical, or enhanced with digital work, and how did you balance realism with aggression?
Production needed a stand in puppet for our lead actor to interact with. It gave Rachel McAdams a great eyeline and something to punch and stab safely. But we knew in our hearts that it was going to be replaced in post. Sam had too many notes on precision timing and the look of the Boar that could not be addressed. It was decided by Sam to replace the prop Boar completely with the ILM custom CG asset. We had a ton of reference of real wild Boar’s that we shared with the ILM team, and as they blocked out animation. They would provide a picture in picture of the real Boar reference clips in the bottom corner of each animation blocking. This gave Sam and the editorial team a great guide to pick out real moments and what to enhance with the animators. Ultimately, I feel that the real on set puppet really helped Rachel’s performance and the camera operators to keep things very dynamic and exciting. It was a win, win for all of us to have something real on set.
Action and survival are key themes in the film, how did the visual effects support the physical exhaustion and danger faced by the characters?
It all started with our stunt team lead by John Walton shooting tons of stunt-vis on our back lot. Using cardboard boxes as shapes for the stunt team to practice and rehearse with. This footage was super valuable for Sam and Bill Pope to plan each fight scene out. VFX would assist on wire removals, stunt pad paint outs, rubber knife fixes and blood enhancements.
The film doesn’t shy away from gore, what specific challenges does graphic violence present for visual effects compared to more traditional action work?
The VFX team shot lots and lots of fake blood, snot, slime and vomit elements. My guess is 12 hours, worth of footage. This would help VFX editorial to temp out all the gore. Giving us a nice guide on how much to add. But we soon learned that if we went too far with blood and gore, it was never enough for Sam. Our VFX supervisor at ILM Jason Snell, helped out by shooting more blood and gore for us in his garage. I did as well in my garage and we both shared stories of how we got the fake blood cleaned up off our garage walls and floors. I think our both neighbors think we are serial killers.
The final confrontation between the two survivors is particularly brutal; how did VFX contribute to escalating the tension and visceral impact of that sequence?
VFX helped enhance a huge chunk of hair and scalp that Bradley rips off of Linda’s upper head near her hairline. Then a fake head was made of Linda for the eye gouge moment. We shot separate elements allowing us to blend Bradley’s hand into a plate of the real Linda and fake head eye socket. The aftermath was going to be a bloodshot contact lens that would be in Linda’s eye the rest of the ending scenes. But due to all the dust and dirt in the air it made it impossible for Rachel to wear the contact lens. VFX had to help add in a blood shot eye into every shot we see Linda in until the end final climatic scene.
Filming took place across Australia, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic, how were the different sequences divided between these locations, and how did this multi-country shoot impact the way the VFX work was planned, supervised, and executed?
Sydney, Australia was the home base from January to March (2025) as that is where our main stage was on the Disney lot. All our stage Plane Crash work and stage High Ridge work was done first. Plus, a 2-night shoot at a surfing academy that had a huge wave tank. This allowed us to shoot the Bradely raft escape scene on real water. Then we moved the production to team in mid-March (2025) to Phuket, Thailand. All the beach and Island filming was done in and around Phuket.
During post-production Sam required some additional photography, those scenes were done in the Dominican Republic in early September of 2025. Bringing on local VFX crew in Sydney, Phuket and The Dominican Republic was crucial, and it was great to build new VFX friendships.
How long have you worked on this show?
I started early prep in August of 2024 and wrapped all VFX in late December of 2025.
17 months for prep, shoot and post.
What’s the VFX shots count?
780 VFX shots.
What is your next project?
Taking some time off to be a good husband and father. I have traveled so much for work over the last 10 years that I need to take break. I have gone all over the world. I have been to the city of Nice, and to the Isle of Greece. I have sipped champagne on a yacht. I’ve been to paradise, but I have never been to me….
A big thanks for your time.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
ILM: Dedicated page about Send Help on ILM website.
© Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2026
