Back in 2022, Sara Bennett discussed the VFX work behind The Woman King. Today, she returns to share her journey into the world of The Witcher.
David Stephens started his journey in visual effects in 2011 as a VFX Editor at MPC. Over the years, he worked at leading studios like Framestore and Lola Post Production before stepping into the role of VFX Producer in 2019. His recent credits include A Boy Called Christmas, Fate: The Winx Saga (Season 2), and The Witcher (Season 3).
This is your first time working on The Witcher. How was your collaboration with the showrunner and the directors to define the visual approach for this new season?
Sara Bennett (SB): I joined the project after principal photography had wrapped, taking over from Richard Reed. Having previously collaborated with showrunner Lauren Schmidt on The Witcher: Rats spinoff, it was great to already have an established working relationship as I joined the main series. That familiarity made it much easier to align creatively and understand the vision for the show from the outset.
I also worked closely with David Stephens, the VFX Producer, and his production team, who have been deeply involved with The Witcher since Season 3. Their deep knowledge of the show’s visual language and production workflow made the handover process very smooth. Together, we were able to continue building on the established visual style of the series while pushing certain elements further for this season’s unique story and tone.
Can you tell us about the overall VFX structure for Season 4 — how the work was divided among the various studios, and how you collaborated with Production VFX Supervisor Richard Reed?
SB: When I joined, the show had already been divided up amongst the studios of which we had 13 in total, and they were managed by our fantastic production team led by Roberta Leech (Production Manager) and David Stephens. I worked closely with David to help ease the transition between myself and Richard so it wasn’t too disruptive for all the studios who had been on board for a while before I joined.
David Stephense (DS): Due to the sheer scale of work this season, we were always conscious of schedule and delivery. We didn’t want to overload any one vendor. We worked with vendors from previous seasons and we also brought in a few new partners to cover specific areas of expertise. We had a strong in-house team as well, led by our Associate Supervisor Jack Hughes.
The new season introduces several new creatures. How did you approach their design and ensure they felt consistent with the established visual universe of The Witcher?
DS: We were always led by our fantastic art department. Production Designer Andrew Laws has been with the series since Season 2 and knows exactly what the world of The Witcher needs. Combined with Mark Coulier’s outstanding prosthetic and creature design work, those models and concepts gave us a solid foundation to build on. From there, we were handed the reins to refine, sculpt, and add the more grotesque details that truly brought the creatures to life. It was a long and detailed process, with a lot of fine-tuning to ensure every design felt grounded in The Witcher’s world.
One of the highlights is the impressive Ogre fight on the bridge. Can you tell us about the creative process behind the troll’s design and how it evolved during production?
DS: From the start, we knew he needed a backstory. It was the big boss fight we needed to close the season but he couldn’t just be another creature for Geralt to defeat. We began to explore the idea that he was once a Nilfgaardian soldier, now transformed into this grotesque ogre with armour welded into his skin and weapons where his hands used to be. So we put in as much detail as we could. Lauren and the creative team approved the concept, and we then pushed the details to make him feel tragic as well as terrifying. We handed the sequence to Scanline VFX, who were fantastic throughout, and the final result is exactly what we had all imagined.
SB: I really enjoyed collaborating with the team at Scanline on this sequence, which was led by their VFX Supervisor, Julian Gnass. The creature itself was such a fantastic character to bring to life—both visually and in terms of performance. The foundation for the sequence came from some excellent on-set plates featuring stunt performer George Surry, who delivered a remarkable performance on stilts. His work provided a strong physical base and a great sense of scale that we could build upon in CG.
From the very beginning, every detail of the creature was carefully considered—from design and anatomy through to the nuances of its movement and interaction with the environment. A key focus was ensuring that the creature’s hands, weapons, and overall physicality aligned accurately with the live-action plates, especially during close interactions with the environment and performers. In early animation tests, the motion initially felt a bit too fast and fluid, which unintentionally made the creature seem weightless. While technically impressive, it didn’t convey the grounded physicality and sense of mass that the scene required.
To address this, we refined the animation to emphasize a more deliberate, heavy, and lumbering movement style—slowing down the pace to add anticipation, follow-through, and subtle drag to every gesture. This approach helped communicate the creature’s immense size and power, making each step feel impactful and believable.
A tremendous amount of effort also went into seamlessly integrating the creature into the live-action plates. As the Ogre moves in and out of shafts of light, coming very close to camera and interacting with practical elements, it was crucial to achieve a cohesive blend between CG and live-action. The team introduced layers of volumetric lighting, floating dust, and debris to enhance the atmosphere and interaction within the scene. All of these elements were beautifully composited, resulting in a final shot that felt immersive, tactile, and full of presence.
What were the main challenges of shooting the bridge sequence, and how did the live-action elements influence the creature’s animation and integration?
DS: It was a tough shoot. The bridge section itself was 100% practical. But the weather was awful, and the ground turned into a swamp, but the entire VFX team did an incredible job keeping everything on track.
The real challenge on the day was time. Making sure we captured everything we needed with both stunts and Liam. Everything was planned out to the frame in a stunt viz. That allowed us to map out exactly where Geralt would be and where we’d take over in VFX.
The Wraith also plays a key role in one of the episodes. How did you approach the look and movement of this spectral creature to make it both terrifying and grounded in The Witcher world?
DS: It took a while to land on a look for the wraith. Early full CGI designs were too much like creatures we had seen in other shows. The final look and design was a collaboration between VFX, make up, prosthetics and costume.
The fight sequence itself was created by our stunt designer and second unit Director Christopher Clark Cowan. The set was all practical. And we had a performer in full costume and makeup suspended on a pole arm, which gave Liam a real element to work with and helped establish her movement. We wanted her to look terrifying, but feel grounded in reality.
The final look evolved in post. Refining what parts of her body we’d remove, how the hair and the fabric of her clothes reacted. Nicolas Rigaud and the team at Digital District were outstanding.
Were there specific techniques or workflows you used to blend practical sets with digital extensions seamlessly, especially in large-scale battle or environment shots?
DS: We didn’t really return to many established locations this season, with Nilfgaard being the main exception. We used the bones of the existing build, but the entire environment was overhauled to give it more scale and presence.
Our main goal was to capture as much practical footage as possible to ground the environments in reality. We carried out plate shoots in Slovenia, Norway, France, and Wales to build a library of real-world material, which we then augmented and extended digitally. We’ve had a great partnership with RVX in Iceland since earlier seasons, and their DMP and environment work are exceptional. But with so many new locations this year, we also had the opportunity to open up the work to new vendors, which helped bring fresh visual energy to the world of The Witcher.
Magic has always been a signature of The Witcher. How did you and your team approach the creation and animation of the new magical effects for this season?
SB:I think the magic effects have really evolved from season to season—almost like each one brings a visual refresh to The Witcher universe. The editorial team maintains an extensive library of magical effect references from previous seasons, which served as our foundation when developing the look for this one. However, rather than simply replicating what had come before, we took the opportunity to push the visual language of the magic even further.
Our goal was to give it a fresh identity—something that felt distinctive to this season—while still remaining authentic to the established aesthetic of The Witcher world. We experimented with new simulations, energy dynamics, and compositing techniques to enhance the texture and behavior of the effects. The result is a version of magic that feels more refined and expressive, yet still recognizably part of the same universe fans have come to know.
The portals are particularly striking this year. Can you explain how their look and behavior were developed, both technically and conceptually?
SB: I’ve always loved the portals—they’re such visually striking elements of The Witcher world, and this season, Platige Image delivered some truly beautiful work under the guidance of VFX Supervisor Adam Rybarski. The portals have always carried an elegant, almost ethereal quality, but in this season, their look and behavior evolved to reflect the story’s darker turn. As Vilgefortz’s corruption spreads, his influence begins to infect the portals themselves, twisting their once pure energy into something more sinister and unstable.
One of our key creative challenges was finding a visual language that clearly communicated this transformation. We wanted the audience to immediately sense that something was off—something dangerous—when the portals formed. To achieve this, we introduced dark, inky tendrils that coil and weave within the body of the portal, like veins of corruption spreading through its energy field. In certain moments, these tendrils even take on a sentient quality, reaching out and dragging characters into the void.
The result maintains the portals’ signature magical beauty but now layered with an unsettling, almost predatory presence. It’s a perfect reflection of Vilgefortz’s descent into darkness.
Many of the fights required digital augmentation. Can you share how the VFX team supported these sequences — from set enhancements to digital doubles or weapon effects?
SB: Throughout the season, we developed a wide range of weapon extensions to enhance the intensity and realism of the fight sequences. Many of these enhancements involved integrating digital blades onto partially constructed props used on set, seamlessly blending practical and CG elements. In other instances, the weapons were created entirely in CG, including swords, daggers, and other close-combat assets designed to match the physical choreography. We also crafted Vilgefortz’s staff, which is consistent with its portrayal in previous seasons and was fully CG in the scenes where it materializes, allowing for better control over its magical appearance and movement.
For the Ogre fight sequence, Scanline delivered several key CG elements that helped elevate the scale of the scene. In addition to populating the background with fully digital soldiers to expand the sense of battle, the team created the CG chain used by the Ogre during its confrontation with Geralt on the bridge. These additions not only enhanced the visual impact of the fight but also ensured the integration of digital and live-action components remained cohesive.
Looking back, which sequence or effect are you most proud of in Season 4, and why?
SB: That’s a tough one—there are so many great moments throughout the show, from the creature work and complex FX to the beautifully crafted environments and the dynamic magic sequences. Each department brought something unique to the table, and it’s hard to pick a single highlight because every element came together to create something special. I had an amazing experience being part of the production, collaborating with a very talented team and numerous studios. It was a project that constantly challenged and inspired us, and I’m extremely proud of what we achieved together.
How long have you worked on this show?
SB: I joined the team for Post and was on the project for around 10 months.
What’s the VFX shots count?
SB: We worked on a total of 2550 shots.
What is your next project?
SB: Can’t tell you that but I would like to say a massive thank you to all the wonderful studios who contributed to this season:
- Scanline VFX
- One of Us
- Cinesite (London & Montreal)
- Digital District
- Milk VFX
- Vine FX
- Platige Image
- RVX
- Crafty Apes
- TPO VFX
- Orca Studios
- Xylem
A big thanks for your time.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Cinesite: Dedicated page about The Witcher – Season 4 on Cinesite website.
One of Us: Dedicated page about The Witcher – Season 4 on One of Us website.
© Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2025
