Big effects: Kansas City native is up for yet another Emmy, this time for ‘Westworld’
Bruce Branit believes it’s a matter of scope.
“We had riots with 500 extras. A car chase through downtown Los Angeles. Robots. Flying vehicles. You name it,” he says.
That scope helped HBO’s “Westworld” earn 11 nominations at the upcoming Emmy Awards.
Kansas City native Branit is among the individuals sharing this acclaim. He personally netted his eighth Emmy nomination for special visual effects this year for “Crisis Theory,” the third season’s finale episode.
“‘It’s just an honor to be nominated’ — he says through gritted teeth,” Branit deadpans, mimicking the standard Hollywood reaction.
“I mean, it’s so arbitrary on some levels, and I’m just lucky to be able to work on a show like ‘Westworld’ that gets to play in such a league.”
Without offering too many spoilers, his particular episode is the culmination of the season where robot Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) finally leaves the theme park and teams up with Caleb (Aaron Paul) on a quest to find out about humanity.
“The show is essentially a Western,” he says. “The first two seasons, it’s mostly been confined to this Western-themed park. But this season, in a way, it’s a whole new show. It’s shot in downtown Los Angeles a lot. We also shot in Spain and Singapore. So the scope has presented the biggest challenge.”
Branit is credited as an on set VFX supervisor. Unlike most visual effects artists, who work behind the scenes after the material is shot, Branit spends much of his time on location during filming. He reveals the job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities.
“I go from sitting in on the production and concept meetings when all this stuff really gets explained by the visionaries of the show, to the day we’re shooting where we’re working with production design and stunts,” says Branit, a Shawnee Mission East grad who studied industrial design at the University of Kansas.
While Branit has earned previous nominations for “Westworld,” “Breaking Bad” and several “Star Trek” series (among others), he feels the current honor is particularly memorable.
“I can’t remember a year this packed,” he says of fellow nominees that include “Lost in Space,” “The Mandalorian,” “Stranger Things” and “Watchmen.”
“Usually there’s one or two of the five that are there for an interesting reason — like they’ve done something kind of different — but it’s the others that stand head and shoulders above it. This season, all five are unbelievably solid.”
As such, The Star thought it would be entertaining to hear Branit’s thoughts about the formidable competitors in his category:
‘Lost in Space’
“‘Lost in Space’ (Netflix) is always great. I remember finishing Season One going, ‘That was way better than I expected.’ I watched that with my son, who was 13 at the time, and it was like the perfect age,” he says.
“The episode they’re up for had the kitchen sink of everything you can probably do in an episode. I can’t say enough about how high-quality it is. A lot of times with these awards, you get boosts from other parts of the production. ‘Lost in Space’ gets a leg up also because their production design is so cool.”
‘The Mandalorian’
“‘Mandalorian’ (Disney Plus) is absolutely the front-runner. If I were putting down a thousand bucks, I would not hesitate to put it on ‘Mandalorian’ because the stuff they did with virtual production is its own story. … And then you got Baby Yoda in there. And it’s ‘Star Wars.’ I don’t see any way it doesn’t win,” he says.
“The Mandalorian” provides one of the pioneering uses of “The Volume,” a circular stage covered in LED panels on its walls and ceiling that can simulate nearly anything.
“We use some virtual wall, gigantic LED screen technology also on our episode of ‘Westworld,’” Branit says. “It’s a tool everyone will be using in the future — if they can afford it because it’s not cheap. But knowing all that, and with my eye tuned to it, I thought I could tell when (‘Mandalorian’) was using it. But then I found out the room where they meet Werner Herzog’s character is a digital set. I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ It totally fooled me.”
‘Stranger Things’
I was very impressed by how big the ‘Battle of Starcourt Mall’ was. I thought the creature looked great,” Branit says. “I couldn’t find a thing to complain about ‘Stranger Things’ (Netflix). How they bring together all that stuff with the creature and the interaction was really good.”
‘Watchmen’
“I think ‘Watchmen’ (HBO) might be the other nominee that has a chance,” he says. “Like I was talking about getting a leg up because of other factors — not just visual effects — and that show is just so fantastic and relevant. The way the show was created to reflect our time, and it doesn’t even flinch when dealing with such issues.
“Also, the visual effects people I know might be a little sick of hearing about Baby Yoda.”
‘Westworld’
“I’m not going in saying we have zero chance,” Branit says of his odds for picking up that elusive Emmy. “‘Westworld’ was great, and I’m proud and think it’s deserving. There’s a small chance we could win it.”
The effects of COVID-19
Branit was working at his company, Branit FX, in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, when he got contracted as a vendor on Season One of “Westworld.” His company was sent the cut and the plates (which are the actual scenes he would put effects into) after everything was shot.
At the time, he was living in Prairie Village, just a few miles from his childhood home in Fairway.
But in 2017, he made the decision to move his family to Los Angeles.
“My driving urge is to be a creator/filmmaker and be part of that process. I kind of felt myself being the last step in that process. It’s like someone’s already designed the house and built the house, and I’m coming in to basically install the fixtures,” he says.
In addition to “Westworld,” which consumes nine months of his year, he also works for six months on HBO’s “The Righteous Gemstones.” The dark comedy created by Danny McBride follows a family of televangelists and megachurch pastors dealing with a blackmail threat.
He asserts both series are “teaching me more about filmmaking than I ever knew.”
“Bruce has a playful spirit that makes him great to work with,” says Kansas City-based director Patrick Rea. “He is a genuine storyteller as well, which I think makes him even better at his job.”
Rea, who specializes in effects-heavy horror films, collaborated with Branit on the 2013 feature “Nailbiter.”
“I remember meeting him for the first time at his office in the Crossroads. He had quite a bit of ‘Star Wars’ toys around his waiting area, so I knew right away that we were going to get along great,” recalls Rea, whose new supernatural horror film “I Am Lisa” premieres in October.
“I had asked Bruce to do a few VFX shots for the film, which included a tornado. One of the shots had a tornado that was supposed to be in view next to a water tower. He playfully asked me, ‘Can I knock over that water tower?’ I responded with, ‘You can do that?’” And Bruce and his team did an exceptional job.”
While some may envision effects work as a computer-driven, often solitary pursuit, Branit really enjoys the collaborative nature of the process … at least, he used to.
“I got my first night of work in five months last night,” he admits, noting how the pandemic has immobilized most of the gigs he was anticipating.
This latest involves visual effects for a music video — a big enough artist, though, that he says, “I can’t talk about it.”
He adds, “Commercial and music videos are rolling pretty hot, but television and features are nonexistent. Those are such a long-term thing that they can’t really figure it out without the risk of getting shut down. Whereas commercial and music video, they just pop in and pop out, and if somebody gets sick, it doesn’t spread to the whole crew.”
Similarly, that applies to the Emmys ceremony. While Branit has attended in person four or five times previously, he remains unclear how the show will be staged and presented this year — although he knows his category is announced on Sept. 16.
“Normally, the Emmys are divided over three nights, with the first two nights being the more arts and technical awards,” he says. “I’m still not quite sure what the format is this year, and whether everyone’s going to be ‘attending’ by wearing tuxedos and no pants in their living room.”
Jon Niccum is a filmmaker, freelance writer and author of “The Worst Gig: From Psycho Fans to Stage Riots, Famous Musicians Tell All.”
Where to watch the Emmys
▪ Jimmy Kimmel will host the 72nd Emmy Awards’ virtual ceremony at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 on ABC.
▪ But first, creative and technical awards will be announced over several nights. They will stream at 7 p.m. Sept. 14-17 at emmys.com. (Bruce Branit’s visual effects category is Sept. 16.) A fifth night of mixed awards will be shown at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 on FXX.
This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Big effects: Kansas City native is up for yet another Emmy, this time for ‘Westworld’."