CBS-VFX Blazes New Trails with Visual Effects for Primetime Hit Fire Country

The intense drama and riveting action in the newest primetime CBS hit series FIRE COUNTRY is accompanied by spectacular firestorms – the work of visual effects leaders CBS VFX, which was selected by producers to create the namesake blazes and deliver other critical visual effects for the most-watched new network series of the season.

            Led by visual effects supervisor Colin Strause – whose career includes such big-screen blockbusters as Rampage, San Andreas and The Avengers – CBS VFX brings together a visual-effects crew of more than 100 people to deliver as many as 135 effects shots in every episode of the series from Jerry Bruckheimer Productions and CBS Studios.

            FIRE COUNTRY follows Bode Donovan (Max Thieriot), a young convict who is given a chance at a redemption by joining a prison-release program in Northern California in which prisoners fight fires alongside elite fire crews. Visually, the show features fires ranging from small brush blazes to wilderness infernos.

            The fire-focused effects work from CBS VFX incorporates multiple elements, sometimes including actual fire that was filmed on set in highly controlled circumstances. Although the series is set in Northern California, it’s shot in British Columbia – where extremely dry conditions mostly prevent the use of physical fire. Those shots of real fire are combined with an enormous library of actual fire that has been amassed and catalogued. “Each kind of fire, whether it’s a little brush fire or a huge forest fire, has its own library of footage,” Strause explains. Elements from those shots are extracted and further combined with computer-generated fire – the creation of which is, itself, a tremendous challenge, he says.

            “Fire is notoriously tricky to create on screen, but there have been huge advances in the simulation software for making fire, including the Houdini software from SideFX and the newest graphic cards and processing systems,” says Strause. “Only a few years ago, what we’re doing would have taken days or even weeks, but now we’re able to do massive shots in a couple of hours – sometimes even overnight.” And adding to those challenges, the bulk of the action visuals were frenetic handheld shots of the firefighters battling the flames that put the audience into the middle of the dangers. CBS-VFX had to seamlessly match each camera jitter.

            FIRE COUNTRY is the latest in an impressive range of recent projects for CBS VFX, which have also included the acclaimed series One Perfect Shot for HBO Max and ARRAY Filmworks; an innovative virtual-production solution to COVID-related challenges for The Drew Barrymore Show; and special productions for the 2021 MTV Movie Awards and NCAA Final Four.

CBS VFX has developed groundbreaking technology and created visual effects for multiple series across many networks, including Apple TV’s “Roar,” “The Offer” for Paramount +, “This Is Us” on NBC, Netflix’s “Dead to Me,” and “Big Shot” on Disney+. CBS VFX maintains a dedicated virtual production soundstage, and its team is available to television production professionals for live demonstrations of virtual production, digital set extension and real-time pre-viz technologies.

To learn more, visit www.CBS-VFX.com.