Wheel Of Time: Ondrej Nekvasil & Ondrej Nierostek Talk New Biomes & Burning Houses - Exclusive Interview

Amazon Studios series may have massive budgets, but all of that cash doesn't just funnel toward corporate board rooms and A-list actors. It also goes into sets — lots and lots of sets. In fact, multiple fantasy shows created by the studio are rife with practical effects, physical structures, and very real settings, right down to the most minute details.

Looper was recently invited to an exclusive behind-the-scenes event at Jordan Studios, home of the "Wheel of Time" series, where we were able to see the magnitude of this commitment to traditional effects and set designs up close and personal — and it didn't disappoint. We saw the rebuilt Two Rivers and sat down with multiple HODs (heads of departments) across the gigantic 350,000-foot studio complex.

The set that truly took one's breath away was that of Tar Valon, the magnificent city that houses the White Tower of the show's fabled all-female order of the Aes Sedai. We walked the streets of the majestic metropolis, smelled incense, picked up the intricately detailed props (even the game pieces and puppets were functional), and watched a demonstration of how they made it rain.

Finally, we went up into the second story of one of the buildings, where we had the pleasure of interviewing Ondrej Nekvasil and Ondrej Nierostek, the Production Designer and SFX Coordinator for the show, respectively. Here's what the pair of behind-the-screen heroes had to say about how they bring the show to life heading into Season 2.

You guys have built a lot of massive sets for this show. Are there any sets that you've particularly enjoyed working on and providing all the effects for?

Ondrej Nierostek: Absolutely. There's one set I really like, which is on the bank of the river. It's called the Atuan's Mill. That village was built from the ground, so all the buildings, the mill ... The wheel of the mill has to be moving, so we did it practically. We had an engine motor. Then, we know that there is going to be a battle happening later on, so that set has to be prepped for that. During the battle, you had lots of cranes behind the buildings, lots of cherry pickers for the wire work, pulling the stunts, which needs to fly, hit the buildings. There was a big channeling wave, which we created with the strong machines. I like Atuan's Mill.

What kind of machines do you use for a wave like that?

Nierostek: Well, for this big wave, we had several huge fans — engine fans — and we had a few road compressors helping with the air blasters.

In a show like this, there are normal effects, and then there's the One Power impacting things. How has that factored into doing special effects, knowing that there's this magical element that is impacting how things look and feel?

Nierostek: The practical effects happen every day on set, so we are predominantly standing by there creating atmosphere. All the sets are lit by flames, so wherever you go, it's using atmospheric smoke. Even exterior or interiors, we are helping to create some kind of magic look for camera and channeling. The other kind of effects are after discussions. Where do we actually go if it's more visual effects, or if it's a special effect like a practical effect on the set? It's a combination.

Is there a practical special effect in the show that you think fans might not have noticed or assumed is CGI after the fact? Anything you've pulled off so well that you think it's slipped right past viewers?

Nierostek: There are effects [that] are very sweet and cool, even little gags. For example, there is a kitchen, and there is a cook who's doing some kind of cakes in the oven. Then, he's bringing out the cakes and putting them on the table, and suddenly, all the cakes deflate. This was a practical effect — no help at all from the cook or from the visual effects. It was a lovely gag we did. I really like it because it was simple and sweet. There are moments like that all throughout the show.

With the Seanchan arriving in Season 2, that's a big culture shift — a dynamic that's very, very big. Are there any specific effects that came with that element in Season 2 that fans can look forward to? We already discussed the wave. Is there anything else like that?

Nierostek: I don't think that it is something special, but we know that the army is rude, that it's brutal. When Lady Suroth approaches — she's coming into the village — it's something special. It's spectacular. You see her on that palanquin, on the top of it, and you know that this is going to be bad for the villagers.

Is there a part of the show — Season 2 or any other part you've worked on — that you're particularly proud of?

Nierostek: That we finished. That we made it. All the gags, which we prepped — that they are there and they are well done.

Is there one specific effect that you would say stands out, or do they all kind of run together after a while?

Nierostek: There is one when we were burning a house — [it] was a challenge to burn the house because the location didn't allow us to burn it properly on the location. It was a combination of element shoot and visual effects, which had to put the flames later on into the takes. I'm proud of that. It looked great on the screen, and it worked because we were shooting that without the flame with the characters. But you wouldn't notice that because the flames were put there later on, which we did the element work for.

Very cool. This is a very big world. Are there any new areas that you had fun developing for Season 2, geographically?

Ondrej Nekvasil: We were looking at shooting abroad, and we were adding more nature, more different architectures, and more different places into the world. [It] is the first time we introduced a proper desert area. We introduced a tropical forest and ocean, stuff we didn't see before in our story and in the first season. This is new for the viewers in the second season — they will see that.

Is there a specific episode in Season 2 that you're excited for fans to see?

Nekvasil: I think that they will enjoy the finale because there's a lot of stuff to see, a lot of interesting locations and all that. Plus, there's a whole story finale. Our characters are coming together, and they are suddenly all together in a new space, and ... that's something to enjoy.

Do you have any insights into the creative process that goes into developing the practical effects? This world is so diverse, and there are so many different spaces and characters, and there's magic and not magic. Is there a creative process that you bring to make sure that those all look distinct?

Nierostek: We listen, and we actually read the storyboard and the scripts so we know what's written. Then comes our imagination, which means that we do some show-and-tells of the effects that we think should be used for [those] scenes, because we pick them from the script. We are bringing them just for show and tell. Then, I'm glad if they're being liked and they can be used — because creatively, it gives us the chance to do something new, always.

What is each of your favorite parts of the Robert Jordan universe now that you've worked on the show?

Nekvasil: What I like about that is actually the fact that the characters have a development. You can see that the one person, [who] seems kind of clear in one book, is actually .... You will discover there's more and more into it, and there's more depth into it. That's a nice development so that you are not staying with the same person all the time. Well, you see that you are staying with the same person, but you can see her from a different perspective, and you learn more about that. Even the evil person — the evil persons really have some depth and have some story behind [them], which is great.

Nierostek: Yeah, it is. That is actually so wild that you know that the characters are going to split, and you follow them, and all of them have got different personalities. There isn't black and white. There's a dark world, there's the real world, and the magic comes. All that combination — it's super to work in this era and be part of the story and telling the story.

The first three episodes of Season 2 of "The Wheel of Time" are available to stream on Prime Video. The remaining episodes will premiere on Fridays through October 6, 2023.

This interview has been edited for clarity.