From the earliest pages of the script, Showrunner Haley Z. Boston made her vision unmistakable: every instance of the words “blood” or “bleeding” appeared in bold red. Her mantra, “there’s no such thing as too much blood,” set the tone for a season of visual effects that included over 250 shots of hero CG blood and supporting gore, environments and invisible effects.
Jo Hughes, Production VFX Supervisor / Producer, oversaw the visual effects across the full season, working closely with Boston and the production’s creative teams, with Rocket Science VFX proudly serving as lead vendor.
“Haley, Hilary and Andrea, were the creative dream team to work with. …,” expresses Hughes.
The main plot of SOMETHING VERY BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN is built around a supernatural bloodline curse which dictates that each generation of a specific family must marry their true soulmate before sunset on their wedding day, or they will violently bleed to death. And if a wedding fails to happen at all, the curse transfers over to the fiancé’s family instead, triggering a horrific physical reaction where family members start spurting blood and bleeding out.
The Rocket Science team was tasked with developing this hero Bloodline Curse Effect.
The team developed three approaches depending on the performance and the needs of the shot. Hero cast moments combined prosthetic tubing with FX simulation, cleanup and 2D enhancement. Background performers were generally filmed with practical makeup blood, which VFX extended and refined. For moments requiring less bleeding, the effect could be created digitally on a clean face.
“The amount of blood in CARRIE and at the end of THE SUBSTANCE was referenced. It needed to be a lot!” says Hughes. One key reference was Billie Eilish’s music video “When The Party’s Over,” which employed practical black fluid pumped via prosthetic tubing into the artist’s eyes. Through initial research, the practical blood product to be used on-set for SVB could not safely interact with the actor’s eyes, inspiring Prosthetics, Make Up and Visual Effects to collaborate on blended approaches, leaning into in-camera effects where practical and leveraging VFX where impractical.
Heavy research into the physics of liquid pooling and pouring from tear ducts, with real world reference of natural tears welling around the eyes and falling, was also undertaken by the RS team.
Blending practical SPFX Prosthetics blood with digital blood had both advantages and disadvantages.
“I like to have something practical to anchor to, and the practical blood on faces and clothing was invaluable to us during digital production, serving as perfect reference for the CG Curse Effect,” says Hughes.
With the added challenge, the Houdini driven CG blood simulations needed to blend seamlessly into the practical blood, in terms of placement, physics and photographic qualities. Most often, this was required on the actors’ faces. VFX would start the blood flow from the tear ducts and over the lower lid, then match to the practical streams around the cheekbones. Facial geometry was built in Maya, rendered using Karma in Solaris and composited in Nuke.
“Two from Rachel’s POV were the most complex. She is looking down at her hands as she catches blood falling from her face. In both cases, practical blood was used but the streams were not as smooth as Haley wanted.”
The RS team developed extreme hero Blood FX simulations, timed to fill the gaps of the plate blood with detailed compositing to remove edges from the pools of blood to blend seamlessly into one surface.
Spoiler Alert: In the finale, with Rachel dodging the altar, the Curse Effect transfer of burden transmits to Nicky’s (the groom) family at what would have been the wedding reception. The groom’s family begin bleeding to death, the blood starting as an insidious drip before flowing faster, everywhere. The RS team supported with enhanced blood coverage to set the gruesome scene.
The Somerhouse environment required the RS team to extend the architecture of the home and set the seasonal scene.
“The show’s creatives loved the exterior of our location, but the double garage end of the house was the least attractive façade,” says Hughes.
This end of the practical location was transformed into the exterior of the Ceremony Room, introducing its triangular window. A very significant room later in the season, while important to establish and foreshadow in Episode 1 as the happy couple arrives at the home.
Using Production Designer Dick Lunn’s interior design as a starting point, the RS team worked in stages of concepting to establish scale, roofing design, exterior cladding style and environment extensions to seam into the plate photography. Surrounding foliage and landscape rocks were added to complete the environment aesthetic. Winterization and snow continuity created complexity. With the last episode filmed on the cusp of Ontario spring, earlier winter photography became the bible for rebuilding the ground and foliage snow coverage. CG aerial snow was also added to key scenes.
Additional unique challenges came through a driving sequence with Rachel and Nicky, heading to the Somerhouse. The 90 second, 360 degree driving comp cyclorama with close up of a 3D pick-up truck passing was a notable visual effects solve. Introduced as an idea during post, no vehicle elements had been photographed for the sequence, giving the team the opportunity to build a fully CG truck and driver.
Vehicle geometry and animation were completed in Maya, with texture/lookdev in Arnold and rendering taking place in Houdini using Arnold. Compositing utilized Cara VR tools for the stitching of eight background driving plates to create the 360° field of view, and Nuke compositing for the truck and driving comp integration. The actors were photographed inside the car against blue screen, while a separate nine-camera rig recorded the moving road environment.
CG wardrobe changes, enhanced gore and fire augmentation, along with 2D supporting visual effects rounded out the scope. “The team nailed this one from concept through delivery. Jo’s leadership, both as a client and creative force with the team was paramount to the show’s success. We are grateful to Haley, Hilary, Andrea, The Duffer Bros and Netflix for the opportunity,” says Christa Tazzeo, Executive VFX Producer.
SOMETHING VERY BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN is an atmospheric horror-thriller series created by Haley Z. Boston and executive produced by the Duffer Brothers’ Upside Down Pictures. Released globally on @Netflix on March 26, 2026, the 8-episode limited series centers on an ill-fated couple in the week leading up to their wedding.
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