We need to talk about ‘Agatha All Along’ and its practical effects

Why? Because the look was spectacular. Agatha All Along not only continued the story started in WandaVision but continued its reliance on practical effects.

Okay, let’s me set out the stall here first. WandaVision was not only the best thing Marvel has done on television, it was the best thing the studio has done, period. Yeah, yeah, I hear you about Endgame, but the sheer unexpectedness, craft skills, and puzzle box nature of WandaVision, well it’s first half at least, elevates it above everything else.  

The first show in particular stands out, filmed in front of a live studio audience in a homage to vintage US sitcoms it uses practical effects to superb effect (ahem). When Wanda is making food in the kitchen, recipes, ingredients, and pots and pans float around her head on wires. Yes, the wires were removed digitally afterwards and others elements were composited in to mimic the jerky wire motion, but the commitment to doing things in camera was impressive.

The trailer for the BTS doc Marvel produced below gives you a flavour for it and links to the full 57 or so minute version looking at the whole series.

Down the road

Which brings us to Agatha.

“Every single effect in Agatha will be done practically,” says exec producer Brad Winderbaum in the featurette below. “The magical environment, the road itself, the monsters they interact with along the way…”

Some of the commitment to this was impressive. In Episode 7 a series of deadly-looking swords drop from the ceiling. These were indeed sharp made of metal, and their trajectories precisely mapped so that when they fell the camera was in the right place - and the actors weren't! -  to make sure the quivering sword was in the foreground to make the shot work.

Probably the greatest achievement of the team though was the enormous set of the road itself. This is precisely the sort of place that seems tailor-made for an LED volume, but show runner Jac Schaeffer, who also was the brains behind WandaVision, decided to physically build the road in a studio. Well, do it twice actually, as the initial stage reserved for it was deemed to be too small.

Location filming was a long time coming to Hollywood and the studios became used to dressing studios to look like open spaces. Whether they succeeded or not depends on how generous you want to be with your viewpoint, but let's just say that there is a definite look to studio-based ‘outdoor’ shots.

Agatha has leaned into this. Rather than go on location or try to produce something realistic with a LED volume, it has made the slight otherworldliness of the road’s studio-bound set part of the whole overall aesthetic; its aura of unreality becomes part of the narrative and, as it turns out, this is something that helps drive the storyline too.

Exec producer Mary Livanos explained to Variety that following WandaVision’s celebration of the golden age of television and sitcoms, in Agatha All Along the team was honoring the craft of filmmaking and the golden age of fantasy and horror.

“When you stepped on set, it was all immersive, like the low-line fog, the mushrooms that sparkle. There was a lot of detail and magic embedded into every corner,” she said. “It’s really great to be able to feel your environment and to capture your environment on camera so that the tone of the show is clear to everybody.”

Practical action

Every aspect of the Witches Road was filmed in-camera, from the establishing shot of the winding road captured through a painted backdrop on. A special mud pit was created, mushrooms were planted on set, and even real fireflies were used for one sequence to ensure each moment in the series looked and felt as real as possible.

"There's nothing better as an actor than to have practical sets to act with," says Joe Locke, who played Teen. Given the well-known travails of those who have been stuck trying to emote  in green screen Marvel hellscapes for months on end, he has a good point.

For all its magic though its length was limited, and so the actors had to walk along it at different paces for different scenes to make sure they literally didn’t run out of road midway through.

“Huge shout to the incredible cast who endured the road,” Livanos said. “They were barefoot walking on the road. They were sliding down crazy slides and getting muddied up and dirty and crawling. We were there for months because we had this awesome, practical approach.”

We’re still waiting for a full BTS and a new episode of Marvel Studios: Assembled covering all things Agatha, so for now here’s the brief teaser that was released before the show dropped.

tl;dr

• Both WandaVision and Agatha All Along showcase a strong reliance on practical effects, enhancing the storytelling experience and creating an immersive environment.
• For Agatha, showrunner Jac Schaeffer opted to physically build the road set instead of using LED volumes or location filming, embracing a slightly unrealistic aesthetic that contributes to the narrative.
• The production team focused on creating a detailed and magical atmosphere on set, incorporating elements like low-line fog, mushrooms, and real fireflies to enhance the visual authenticity.
• The cast participated in physically demanding scenes on the practical set, which allowed for a more genuine performance compared to green screen environments, reinforcing the value of tangible sets in filmmaking.