DC’s Stargirl

Network: The CW
Years: 2020–21 · 19 episodes
Role: In-house VFX artist
Tools: Nuke · After Effects · Houdini

Night-vision HUD locking a recognition box on a man’s face

The brief

As the in-house VFX artist on the DC series, I handled every shot start to finish. The centerpiece is Dr. Mid-Nite’s goggles: a night-vision heads-up display that searches a scene, tags what it finds, identifies faces and reads the weather, all built and composited in Nuke.

The A.I. interface the team uses to bring the goggles back online was designed and animated in After Effects and composited in Nuke, and the workshop flamethrower blast was created in Houdini.

Goggle HUD

Click any still to enlarge

Masked hero in an alley at night as her goggles glow green — Goggles power up

Green night-vision view of an alley with tagged objects and the word SEARCHING — Alley scan

Night-vision view tagging a fire escape and building entrances — Tagging the exits

Night-vision view of a building front reading SCAN COMPLETE — Scan complete

Wide HUD frame reading WEATHER PATTERNS, PICKING UP ANOMALIES — Weather scan

School hallway seen through the HUD, flagging an electrical disturbance — Electrical disturbance

Dining room seen through the HUD while it searches — Room search

A.I. interface

Goggles wired to a laptop showing a restart screen for the McNider A.I. — Restarting the A.I.

Laptop interface showing a REBOOT FAILED warning — Reboot failed

Fire

A jet of flame blasts across a cluttered workshop — Flamethrower