‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ VFX Supervisor: Some of the Show’s Best Shots Were Improvised at Three in the Morning

No two film or TV shoots are alike, as each director and team of department heads have to find their own unique rhythm that falls somewhere on a spectrum between meticulous storyboarding and completely improvising on set. And the most successful collaborations often find a blend of both approaches.

That was certainly the case on “IT: Welcome to Derry.” During IndieWire’s Craft Roundtables, the show’s VFX supervisor Daryl Sawchuk explained that there was always a baseline of previsualization for major sequences, but that preparation gave the team more freedom when the actual shoot days arrived.

“Usually you are previzing and working out the choreography and kind of having a template so that you can start with something, and that’s a base,” Sawchuk said of his work on the Stephen King spin-off. “But as long as you have the main sequence covered, you can improv as you’re going.”

Much of that improv came from co-creator and pilot director Andy Muschietti. Sawchuk explained that Muschietti largely stuck to the shot list but would occasionally throw the team a curveball, adding that some of the most memorable cinematic moments in the series were added at the last minute.

“Andy was an interesting guy. I’d say 75 percent of what we talked about, we did on the day. The ‘Andy Specials,’ as we used to refer to them, were the ones that came up last minute,” he said. “They were a surprise to the DP and me, but some of the best shots in the series, we’d talk to Andy and go ‘When did you come up with that idea?’ and he’d say ‘Oh, last night at three in the morning I realized we had to come up with something cool to get into the scene. And you’re like ‘Oh my God.’ So you have to be prepared for both.”

“IT: Welcome to Derry” is now streaming on HBO Max. For more from all of our Craft Roundtables, click here.