Spartacus:
House of Ashur
Starz
House of Ashur vs 808 Ltd.
Twelve years later we return to the arena with an alternative ‘what if’ story line. The House of Ashur has risen and is back to claim glory in this continuation of the acclaimed Spartacus (2010) saga. Set in gladiatorial Rome, the series intertwines political intrigue with brutal combat and gore. With Nick Tarabay returning as Ashur, alongside Graham McTavish, Tenika Davis and a host of new rivals and allies, the story explores power, survival and betrayal.
With a highly experienced team supervised by Scott Chambers, 808 Ltd. delivered close to 700 shots over 10 episodes for this gripping continuation. Our work spanned from Unreal set extensions to recreate the grandeur of ancient Rome, visceral battle sequences filled with blood, fire, smoke, dust and rain, along with countless invisible VFX fixes to keep the world authentic and seamless.
Spartacus: House of Ashur will bring fans and audiences back into the brutal and captivating world of Spartacus.
“ This project was a reminder that great work doesn’t just appear on screen; it comes from a team that’s constantly learning, adapting, and supporting each other along the way.”
- Camilla Holmsen, 808 Ltd. Production Manager
CASE STUDY
808 Ltd. VFX Breakdown
For Spartacus: House of Ashur, 808 Ltd. focused on enhancing the series’ dramatic and intense moments with clean, immersive effects. From the sparks of fire in battle sequences to blood splatters and environmental enhancements, our work was designed to feel natural within the world of the show while supporting the flow of the story.
“It has been an enormous pleasure working with 808 on Season 1. You have much to be proud of on the show. Your work has been tidy and consistent and lots of it, yet always with creative flair. You have worked on some seriously marginal plates, yet nary a grumble.”
- Charlie McClellan, House of Ashur VFX Supervisor
A Symphony of Blood & Gore
Bloody gladiators and dangerously ambitious politicians still shape the world in Season One of House of Ashur.
808 Ltd. completed various visual effects to bring realistic blood and gore to multiple scenes throughout this series.
In the season finale, we saw wound extensions, scar cleanups, blood pools and sprays, and more. All the necessary details to bring the lore of Spartacus back to the screen.
Flames & Embers
In Episode 2, Achillia’s (Tenika Davis) fights Korris (Graham McTavish) with a flaming torch. On set, the head of the torch was in reality just a cleverly designed LED light prop without any flames - giving us an excellent interactive lighting base.
Using in-house custom plugins designed for Embergen, 808 Ltd. transformed the LED torch into a believable CG fire, bringing the flaming vision to life.
The House of Ashur set went up in flames for Episode 10, literally. Gas rigs provided practical fire during the epic battle of Ashur vs. Caesar.
808 Ltd. was tasked with removing the rig and enhancing the scene with additional flames and embers where the real fire wasn’t enough.
Stunt Doubles & Face Replacements
Face replacements are a key visual effects technique that allows us to match a stunt double’s performance with the actor’s expressions.
Tenika’s stunt double (Belle Williams) took on some intense battle scenes, and we helped bring the final look together with face replacements.
Machine Learning
Following a makeup mistake on set, 808 Ltd. turned to machine learning for skin-cleanup work, developing a solution that combines proprietary neural networks trained in-house at 808 Ltd. The result is a tightly integrated toolset designed to support practical, shot-based compositing needs.
Our ML solution streamlines the workflow by reducing repetitive manual work. An artist only needs to provide a small set of before-and-after frames, and the tool uses these examples to train a neural network. Once it has learned the pattern, it can apply the same effect to the rest of the sequence with minor touchups to final.
Unreal Engine & Green Screen Replacements
Fully utilizing Unreal Engine’s real-time capabilities, we replaced green screens with photoreal backgrounds. While many shots only required 2D tracking for the backgrounds, all shots needed to be fully rendered to maintain continuity in cloud movement and other variables, such as 3D sprites walking around in the plaza.
Some sequences were up to 9,000 frames long, which would have required a massive render farm or years of processing with traditional path-tracing engines. With only a single 4090, these sequences could be rendered overnight in full 4K.
We used Ultra Dynamic Sky for various sequences that required special treatment to create believable lightning storms and rainy environments.
Watch the Spartacus: House of Ashur Trailer
808 Ltd. would like to thank Starz, Charlie McClellan and Helene Takacs for their partnership and dedication
on this bold new chapter in the Spartacus legacy.