Mad Men’s Effects Foreman Hasn’t Seen the Controversial 4K Remaster
▼ Summary
– HBO Max’s new 4K *Mad Men* remaster launched with errors, including visible crew members, due to Lionsgate Television sending incorrect files.
– Special effects foreman Shannon Thompson explains his work on *Mad Men* primarily involved creating invisible atmospheric effects like fake elevator doors.
– Thompson details that creating realistic projectile vomit involves extensive research and practical testing with custom tools and specific liquids.
– For a famous vomiting scene, the director requested a “clam chowder-ish” consistency, leading Thompson to actually use clam chowder for the effect.
– Thompson speculates the error occurred because modern productions often rely on digital removal in post-production, which was not done for this remaster.
The recent launch of the 4K remaster of Mad Men on HBO Max was met with unexpected amusement from viewers, who quickly spotted several glaring technical errors. Episodes appeared with incorrect titles, and in one particularly notable instance, a clear shot of the show’s special effects foreman, Shannon Thompson, remained visible on screen. The mistakes were reportedly due to Lionsgate Television sending over an incorrect set of exported files. Thompson, whose extensive career includes work on films like The Mask, American History X, and Dune: Part One, hasn’t yet viewed the remaster but vividly recalls the shoot and sees the visible error as a perfect illustration of the invisible craft behind atmospheric effects in television.
When asked about his path into the industry, Thompson explained his long-standing fascination with creative, mechanical work like pyrotechnics. Starting in props, he naturally crossed over into special effects after meeting two seasoned professionals who brought him into their world. He has now been perfecting this craft for over three decades. His work on a period drama like Mad Men differed significantly from his sci-fi projects, focusing heavily on atmospheric details. Every elevator door, falling snowflake, or wisp of steam that wasn’t actor-driven fell under his purview, with a significant portion of his job involving the precise, hidden operation of those fake elevator doors to make them feel utterly ordinary.
Creating convincing practical effects, such as projectile vomit, requires extensive research and testing. Thompson described studying real footage to understand the mechanics, then using tools like pressure pots filled with the appropriate liquid. The key challenge is manipulating the delivery hose to account for the human mouth’s anatomy, teeth, uvula, and all, so the stream doesn’t look like it’s coming from a simple tube. Directors provide crucial context, asking questions about the character’s diet and the cause of illness to determine the vomit’s exact consistency.
For the infamous “Red in the Face” episode, the directive was specific: Roger Sterling had eaten oysters. Producer Matt Weiner requested a “clam chowder-ish” quality, leading Thompson to literally use clam chowder and engineer its chaotic spewing across the set. Reflecting on how he ended up in the final 4K frame, Thompson noted that during the original shoot, the standard practice was to position himself as close to the action as possible while staying just outside the camera’s view, with the expectation of being cropped out. The modern reliance on digital removal in post-production has shifted that approach, but in this case, that crucial erasure step was evidently overlooked, leaving a piece of production history accidentally preserved for a new generation of viewers to discover.
(Source: The Verge)
