Geektown BTS Podcast 31: ‘Ratched’ VFX Supervisor Paul Santagada From FuseFX Interview
Welcome to the latest Geektown Behind The Scenes podcast. On this episode, I’m chatting with Paul Santagada, VFX supervisor from FuseFX for Ryan Murphy’s smash hit series ‘Ratched‘.
Inspired by Ken Kesey’s ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, ‘Ratched’ is a suspenseful drama series that tells the origin story of asylum nurse Mildred Ratched, played by Sarah Paulson. In 1947, Mildred arrives in Northern California to seek employment at a leading psychiatric hospital where new and unsettling experiments have begun on the human mind. On a clandestine mission, Mildred presents herself as the perfect image of what a dedicated nurse should be, but the wheels are always turning and as she begins to infiltrate the mental health care system and those within it, Mildred’s stylish exterior belies a growing darkness that has long been smouldering within, revealing that true monsters are made, not born.
In a very rare viewing figures update from Netflix, they recently announced the series had been watched by a staggering 48 million members in the first 28 days, making it the streaming services biggest original debut season of the year.
As VFX supervisor, Paul’s work on the show was largely about cranking up the drama’s twin pillars of beauty and horror. With the series taking place in a retro, geothermal Northern California, he was able to use VFX to create both the series’ stunning environments, and the terrifying mutilations and antiquated medical procedures performed within the hospital.
In addition to ‘Ratched’, Paul has previously worked on other Ryan Murphy dramas such as ‘American Horror Story’ and ‘Hollywood’, along with shows such as ‘Breaking Bad’, ‘The Orville’, ‘The Tick’, ‘Game of Thrones’ and many, many others.
Geektown BTS Podcast 31: ‘Ratched’ VFX Supervisor Paul Santagada From FuseFX Interview
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