Compared to the rest of the Marvel universe, Daredevil’s downright restrained. There were far fewer massive action sequences. And not a single Hulk. But special effects were still crucial to making the show work.


Speaking to Tech Times, Bryan Godwin, CEO of Shade VFX explained his philosophy of VFX:

I think the goal of most visual effects are — or at least should be — to support the story,” Godwin exclusively told Tech Times. “[You] don’t pull the audience out of the experience they’re having. Our favorite projects are ones where we work closely with filmmakers, directors, writers and producers to design effects that really pack a punch, without suspending the audience’s disbelief of the world they’re in.


These gifs are from a VFX reel Shade has put up on Vimeo, where you can see the evolution of the effects from a single episode. It’s kind of obvious, in retrospect, that the weapons swung so carelessly on screen would have to be mostly done in post — it might take forever to get the perfect shot otherwise:

And then there’s a shot like this, which has a much more obvious effects need:


Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders

Contact the author at katharine@io9.com .