If you’ve ever wondered what an operation it is to coordinate all the badass special effects that you see on Yellowstone, today, they’re giving fans a behind the scenes look at it all in a super cool new video.
Garry Elmendorf, the special effects supervisor, says that this season has presented a unique challenge, because they’re filming out of sequence in terms of the chronological storyline. On top of that, they moved all of the equipment from from Park City, Utah to Hamilton, Montana, and they have to bring along at least one of every single thing you see on the show.
Clearly, most of the time, they bring a whole lot more than that.
And Garry is responsible for bringing each set to life and interpreting exactly what director Taylor Sheridan wants to see for that specific scene, and making it a reality for viewers everywhere each and every Sunday night.
They haul hundreds of thousands of pounds of equipment to bring the Dutton ranch to life:
“Because we had to do so much movement, we brought a much bigger crew than we had last year. Twice the size. It’s a massive operation.
We bring one of everything, at least. Probably 250-300,ooo pounds of equipment that we move and reassemble it wherever it has to go.”
And the amount of logistics involved is pretty insane, too, for such an intricate show that has tons of action and special effects in nearly every scene:
“All of the prep work is done here, everything is fabricated here. So there’s logistics. Making sure you’re far enough ahead of the game. So you’re always having to ask certain questions to get in the ballpark.
The interesting thing about this year is that they’re shooting out of sequence, so trying to track all that is one of the hardest parts of the job. Especially if it’s matching to what we’d already seen, getting the right pieces, just trying to remember what it looked like.
So it’s a lot of note taking. Everybody kinda pitches in and says, you know, ‘That wasn’t there, it was there.'”
I can’t even imagine trying to keep up with all the guns, ammo, horses, and trucks they use all the time, but clearly they know what they’re doing because the show is one of the most high quality productions on TV right now.
So, not only do they have great music, they have a stellar special effects department that makes every single scene feel extremely real and authentic. The very first shootout of this new season was a continuation from the end of season three, and it was absolutely seamless:
“The shootouts have been interesting. The first shootout of the show is a continuation of the one last year, so that’s in Kayce’s office. We try to time it, rehearse it, make sure everybody knows where they’re supposed to be.”
Although that job sounds so damn hard, they make it look so easy, and that is pure talent. If you want to see how they make all the magic happen on Yellowstone each week, check it out:
