How the ‘Gotham Knights’ Video Game Inspired ‘The Penguin’s’ World Building

The video game “Gotham Knights” served as an unexpected inspiration when it came to building Gotham City for HBO’s “The Penguin.”

Sony-owned Pixomondo, which specializes in pre-production, virtual production and visual effects, was tasked with the environmental design of Gotham’s world-building. Among those designs were the skylines of Gotham City, the aftermath of the flood damage from “The Batman” and rendering streets and buildings in various states of decay. Furthermore, subway shots were filled with garbage and rubble, adding to the gritty aesthetic of the show.

In the series, Colin Farrell reprises his role from “The Batman” playing Gotham City gangster Oswald “Oz” Cobb. The series picks up in the days after the events of “The Batman,” with Oz seeking to seize control of the Gotham underworld in the power vacuum created by the death of his former boss, Carmine Falcone.

A collaboration with the developers of the award-winning video game “Gotham Knights” helped bring their creative vision to life.

Pixomondo CEO Jonny Slow and VFX Supervisor Nathaniel Larouche knew they wanted to create their version of what this Gotham City would need to look like. Says Slow, “It’s a distinctive place that’s been created where it is sort of familiar, but it’s a new take on it because you’re looking at it and sort of empathizing with the penguin. To do that you have to create this world where he fits in.”

Larouche explains the company had access to the actual files from the video games which helped as they were developing their proof of concept. Larouche says, “We had two calls with the game developers, who joined our production call — something that was a rare experience.”

With that collaboration, the Pixomondo team could pull inspiration from “Gotham Knight’s” detailed world and blend it into their visual effects pipeline to create a distinct Gotham.

Since the video game elements already existed in the Unreal Engine used for video game development, the production team was comfortable with creating their look. Slow points out the collaboration was a big steps “between the VFX and gaming industries.” He adds, “That’s something we haven’t done before. It’s simple and obvious case for how you can cut the cost and time down for creating things that already exist in the world.”

Episode 6 sees Oz’s underground empire up and running. The new drug Bliss is being manufactured in the sewers of Crown Point. It’s also winter and snow has begun to fall on the city, but there’s no power in Oz’s apartment or the rest of the city, and the generator isn’t working either.

Slow explains the video game again supplied a reference point for the Crown Point visuals. “We said, ‘This is something that exists, can we use it in any way?’ I think it’s a good example of not having to look too far for inspiration because it already exists.”

The street, the flooded section and the collapsed buildings were created by Pixomondo were inspired following conversations with the production team about what they wanted to see, but with reference points from the game that they could point to.

According to Larouche, once they got things working, they conducted tests “by rendering driving footage down different streets. Then, we brought these synthetic driving elements to an LED volume we had access to and filmed some test shots to show Johnny Han, our client-side supervisor. The initial test was successful, so we scheduled another meeting to address a few strange issues. For example, atmospheric effects appeared different through each camera, which made it impossible to stitch together a single, consistent shot.”

Once they had ironed out those workflow issues, the renderings were handed over to the production team.

Collaboration was also key with both the art department and production design. Slow stresses those conversations were essential for them to do the job properly so “We deliver that seamless blend between what is physical and what is virtual. You know you’re deceiving the eye and the camera. You’re not looking at something real anymore, you’re looking an at LED screen. Coordination with the art department and production design happens because if it doesn’t, you’ll be able to see where the join is, and then it has to be fixed in post-production.”