How VFX Supervisor Blair Clark of Ted Makes You Forget Ted is Not Real

      Visual effects supervisor Blair Clark has worked alongside Seth MacFarlane—creator, director, and star of Ted—to bring the crude, cannabis-loving teddy bear to life in two films and two seasons of the Ted television series. His role has consistently been to ensure that viewers forget they are watching a digitally animated stuffed bear.

      “We don’t want to distract the audience with what they see,” says Clark. “We aim for them to be engaged in the comedic aspect of each scene.”

      For Season 2 of the comedy, Clark and his team of VFX artists dedicated nearly a year in post-production, ensuring that the teddy bear’s facial expressions, behaviors, and costumes—ranging from overalls to a firefighter suit—never undermined MacFarlane’s performance.

      “Ted is dressed in the clothes,” Clark explains. “The clothes aren’t wearing him.”

      The two Ted films were released in 2012 and 2015, achieving a combined box office gross of over $750 million. Before the series, Clark, who had not previously worked in television, was cautioned about the faster pace of TV production compared to film, which allows for less detail. However, colleagues reassured him that the series felt “more like a feature than a television show,” which he recalls fondly.

      “For me, that was fantastic,” he says. “It was reassuring because I understood what needed to be done.”

      Blair Clark on Bringing Ted to Life

      Ted and Max Burkholder as John. Peacock

      Seasons 1 and 2 required over 3,000 VFX shots to animate the lead character. Additionally, MacFarlane performed motion capture for two hours each week over approximately 22 weeks.

      “The process takes months because we need to match move all of the shots to ensure Ted is properly integrated in each scene,” Clark explains. “While he’s doing the mocap, we also capture footage to evaluate and refine the nuances of his performance.”

      Although VFX technology has progressed, Clark has diligently worked to preserve the bear’s unique traits over the past 14 years.

      “Ted has different mannerisms from Seth,” notes Clark. “This was established in the first film, and we strive to maintain that consistency throughout the character’s arc in both the films and the series.”

      One notable scene in Season 2 involved the use of AI to create a realistic portrayal of Bill Clinton from 1995. Initially, Clark and VFX supervisor Hoyt Yeatman considered using prosthetics and a wig to transform MacFarlane into the former president, but found it unconvincing.

      While they sourced many high-resolution images of Bill Clinton from the mid-1990s, video footage of him was “quite low quality.” Because standard CGI couldn't achieve a realistic look for MacFarlane, Clark and his VFX team turned to AI.

      “When the term AI comes up, people often dismiss it,” he says. “Yes, we used AI, but it was a tool that required significant effort from many people. It wasn’t just a matter of typing in a command and getting Bill Clinton.”

      Another challenging scene in Season 2 involved Ted kissing a married woman. On set, a stuffed animal with detachable parts was controlled by a puppeteer.

      “For some shots, we had the actor hold the stuffed animal’s head and kiss it,” Clark reveals. “In other cases, we just used the torso so she could manipulate that.”

      The real challenge arose in post-production.

      “When she reaches for Ted’s shoulders, the actor's hand accidentally passes through his head for a few frames, which we needed to correct,” Clark explains. “It required a lot of fine-tuning on those small details.”

      Ted is now available for streaming on Peacock. You can find more of our Emmy contender interviews here.