Becky Graham has over 24 years of experience in visual effects. She began her career at DNEG in 2001 and joined beloFX in 2024. Her credits include The Chronicles of Riddick, John Carter, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, and Death on the Nile.
Can you tell us about your background in visual effects and what led you to become a VFX Supervisor?
My VFX journey began in 2001 in London, following the completion of a Master’s degree in Computer Animation and a degree in Fine Art. I credit my Dad for giving me an interest in film from an early age; we would watch movies like Alien, and Star Wars on repeat.
I started as a Matchmove Artist, then became a 3D Generalist, then Lead and Sequence Supervisor. I wanted a broader knowledge of how VFX works, so I spent a few years in the New Business & Sales department, learning about show finances, script breakdowns, pitches, and working out methodologies to suit a client’s financial and creative goals.
I really enjoy reading scripts and figuring out how VFX can help tell the overall story. Alongside the New Business role, I worked as a DFX Supervisor on a few shows before being offered the role of VFX Supervisor for The Gilded Age Season 1.
I love the role – it’s amazing to be constantly learning new techniques, seeing the team flourish as we take on big challenges together, and contributing to terrific projects that result in amazing visuals. My dream project would be some grotesque horror.
How did you collaborate with the showrunner and the overall VFX Supervisor of the series to define the visual approach for season 3?
This season brought some exciting new challenges. Episode 1 saw the depiction of the unexpected spring snowstorm of 1888. The 61st Street set was dressed with fake flocking snow and foam snow blankets, which looked really amazing. In VFX, we added large piled-up snow on the ground, covered the CG building extensions and trees with snow, and added some blowing snow FX.
We worked closely with Douglas Purver, the client-side Supervisor, to bring together the final look of the sequence, and did a few rounds of layout for the overall amount of additional snow.
One challenge was to avoid the sequence feeling like it was set in the depth of winter. We needed to capture the surprise of a spring-time snowstorm – the trees were green with new leaves. After some research, we worked out 2D and 3D concepts to balance the look of the frost and snow on the trees whilst retaining the spring feel. beloFX had recently completed a few projects with CG snow, such as Wolfs, and so we were able to take what we learned from that project and apply it here. Our Technical Asset Supervisor, Dave Crabtree, created a bespoke Houdini set-up that helped us to achieve the perfect look of fresh and melting snow which appeared on the buildings, roofs and window sills.
You’ve been part of The Gilded Age since season 1. How have the visual effects evolved across the three seasons?
Working on all three seasons has been amazing, especially as the show is getting more and more popular. I first stepped into the role of VFX Supervisor on Season 1, and I’ve really learned a lot working alongside HBO’s great client-side team and Production VFX Supervisor, Douglas Purver.
I love helping to create sequences that are based on historical events, such as the freak spring snowstorm that opens Season 3. Season 2 has the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, which included a huge firework display, and in Season 1 we recreated the moment that electricity lit up Manhattan buildings for the first time.
What was the balance between on-location shooting and digital set extensions when recreating the city streets and architecture of that era?
The architecture on the set extensions that we built off the 61st Street set is all based on real-world buildings, and we’ve used that same set for all three seasons. Shots outside the Scott residence in Brooklyn are filmed on location in upstate New York.
Every season so far has brought upgrades to our CG set extensions – added details and dirt, curtains and window set-ups. Lots of research has been done by the HBO team to ensure authenticity, and personally, I have learned a lot about the Gilded Age era over the years while working on the show.
Could you walk us through the process of adding digital crowd and ship elements to bring the port and city to life?
The Manhattan Harbour sequence in Episode 4 was a great challenge. We spent some time researching buildings and famous landmarks from that period – there are some wonderful old photos of the skyline that really show how packed and bustling the growing city was at the time. This is exactly what we wanted to represent.
One of the first challenges we had was blocking. Due to the low camera angle and how flat the landmass of Manhattan is, our first blocking stages failed to show the depth and layers of the buildings. It felt like there was no distance between the small harbour buildings and the early skyscrapers in the city. We also added hundreds of masted ships docked in the harbour, as the scene was set in the late evening, when the shipping activity would be winding down for the night.
We still needed to add life to the city and water, so we used Unreal to block out the boats and animation. Once we had an approved layout, this was lit and rendered in Houdini Solaris.
Nicolas Guerrero Arceo was our Generalist Artist tasked with the layout and lighting, alongside the Asset team headed up by Phil Bonner. A lot went into the creative lighting to tell the story of a growing city; the buildings and streets close to the harbour were lit with warm oil lamps, while the city and the Brooklyn Bridge, being more modern structures, had some electricity and cooler, brighter lights.
Mickael Leger was the Lead Compositor on the shot, and he brought together hundreds of layers for the final shot. All the crowd were 2D elements, the client provided us with many filmed crowd groups and individual extras, which worked really well, though were hard to see. The more times you watch the harbour shot, the more details and movement you will find!
Water simulations are notoriously complex. How did you approach the creation of realistic water for the harbor sequences?
A lot of FX work went into the long establishing shot of the Manhattan Harbour. In addition to the large sailboat wake, we introduced variation in channel speed – using surface simulations for the open water and calm maps nearer the harbour. Surprisingly, the boat wake and water surface worked well after only a couple of iterations. There was also low-hanging atmospheric fog, chimney smoke and boat smoke, and cloth sims for the flags and sails.
Looking back at season 3, what sequence or environment are you most proud of and why?
Apart from the Manhattan Harbour sequence in Episode 4 and the snowy scenes in Episode 1, I’m really proud of the opening nighttime sequence for Episode 8.
It was great planning the fast-paced shots using the 61st Street set extension. We first filmed the horse and carriage running down the set in multiple passes, then in VFX, we combined set extensions with a fully replaced background, CG horses, FX fog, 2D crowd elements on the street, and nosy neighbours peering out of windows.
We went through multiple rounds of layout – some shots came together quickly, while others required experimenting with different speeds and street positions before finding the right rhythm.
How long have you worked on this show?
We began work on Season 3 in October 2024 and delivered the final episode in June 2025.
What’s the VFX shots count?
beloFX’s shot count was 213. This included a variety of work: retimes, clean-up, split screens and window comps, seamless set extensions, full CG environments, animation of horses, carriages, and boats, FX simulations of blowing snow, water, cloth and atmospherics.
We used a USD pipeline in Houdini Solaris with cloud-based rendering. I had a talented team headed up by 2D Supervisor Gabriel Curpas, CG Supervisor Dan Pastore and VFX Producers Rosie Doy and Laura Jones.
What is your next project?
I’m currently taking a break between shows, which is lovely!
A big thanks for your time.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
beloFX: Dedicated page about The Gilded Age – Season 3 on beloFX website.
© Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2025
