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www.postmagazine.com 6 POST APRIL 2018 BITS & PIECES LOS ANGELES — VFX Legion (www. vfxlegion.com) recently created the visual effects for crossover episodes of ABC's Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder (HTGAWM). The storylines of the political thriller and legal drama intersected in a back-to- back two-hour event, which pre- miered on March 1 st . The scenario for the tie-in opens with How to Get Away with Murder's high-powered defense attorney, Annalise Keating (Viola Davis), mak- ing an appearance on Scandal's turf in the aptly titled episode, "Allow Me to Introduce Myself." Keating travels to Washington, DC, for a face-to-face meeting with political fixer Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) to elicit her help fast-tracking a class-action case to the United States Supreme Court. The storyline plays out with the guest appearance of Pope on the How to Get Away With Murder episode, "Lahey vs. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." While Scandal is set in DC and HTGAWM takes place in Philadelphia, both shows are actually shot in Los Angeles. VFX Legion created a mix of photorealistic CG environments and other effects that made it pos- sible to place actors into a variety of settings. These invisible effects dramatically augment both shows' visual landscapes. Legion has handled all of the visu- al effects for both shows for nearly three-years and is slated to work on the next season of HTGAWM. Over the years, the Shondaland produc- tions have tasked the studio with creating high-quality CGI for almost 100 episodes. The crossover effort was a challenge in that each of the shows has their own look. For one, Scandal is shot with an Arri Alexa camera, while How to Get Away with Murder is captured on a Sony F55, at different color temps, and under varying lighting condi- tions. The DPs' preferences required VFX Legion to shoot the same en- vironments twice, once with green- screens for Scandal and then again using bluescreens for HTGAWM. Washington, DC's Supreme Court Building is central to the crossover storyline, so replicating its exteri- or facade, along with courtroom interiors and rotunda were the most complex effects. The process began during preproduction, with VFX supervisor, Matthew T. Lynn, working closely with the client to get an in- depth understanding of each show's expectations. Lynn collaborated with Legion's head of production, Nate Smalley, production manager, Andrew Turner, and coordinators Matt Noren and Lexi Sloan, stream- lining workflow and crafting a plan that aligned with the shows' shared vision, as well as their budgets, schedules and resources. Several weeks were spent on R&D, pre-vi- sualization and creating mockups. Legion presented its end-to-end approach to the staffs of both shows during combined VFX meetings and finalized a plan. CG supervisor, Rommél S. Calderon, headed up the team of modeling, texturing, tracking, layout and lighting artists that created the courthouse from scratch. "The CG model of the exterior of the building was a beast and VFX LEGION BRINGS TOGETHER SCANDAL & HTGAWM The green-screen shot. The finished scene.