Bringing the Heat: FRENDER’s VFX for Megan Thee Stallion at Coachella

When Megan Thee Stallion took over the stage at Coachella, it wasn’t just a performance — it was a firestorm of energy, attitude, and visual impact. Behind the digital magic that amplified that moment stood FRENDER, delivering a high-caliber VFX package crafted for one of the world’s most watched stages.

Coachella isn’t just a festival — it’s a global cultural moment. Every second on stage is instantly captured, shared, and dissected across social media, live streams, and media platforms worldwide. Megan’s team approached FRENDER with a clear creative directive: enhance the emotional intensity of the show without ever stealing the spotlight.

This meant going beyond surface-level effects. It required a deep understanding of how to amplify the rhythm, mood, and movement of a live performance, while ensuring seamless integration with lighting, choreography, and camera direction.

From the start, this was a high-pressure, fast-turnaround project. The FRENDER team was brought in as a creative-technical partner, responsible for designing and delivering a full suite of VFX that would elevate the stage visuals — and translate effortlessly across all formats.

We collaborated closely with Megan’s creative team, director, lighting designers, and editors to understand the intent behind each track in the setlist. Each effect had to support the narrative arc of the performance, hitting the right emotional notes at just the right time.

What We Delivered:

To meet the brief, FRENDER produced a customized visual toolkit including:

• Digital fire effects that synced with choreography and lighting cues, enhancing the intensity without overpowering it
• Atmospheric smoke and haze layers that deepened the scene and created transitions between visual themes
• Glitch transitions and overlays that matched the tempo of the music with exacting timing
• Subtle enhancements for camera close-ups, ensuring every frame had polish while maintaining authenticity

Each VFX asset was designed to be modular, adaptive, and technically robust, ready for use across large-format LED screens, festival cameras, and post-production edits.

Time was limited. The visuals needed to be designed, tested, and delivered under tight festival deadlines — all while maintaining the flexibility to adjust in real time as choreography or lighting elements evolved.

Using a combination of Houdini, After Effects, and custom-built pipelines, our team worked in parallel with production to keep pace with live show development. We created multiple versions of certain sequences to ensure creative flexibility and speed in editorial decisions.

This project exemplified our strength in agile post-production workflows and real-time collaboration across teams and disciplines.

The video opens with DJ Khaled commanding attention from the heart of Smurf Village, surrounded by blue characters dancing in sync to a genre-defying beat. Cardi B’s unmistakable voice kicks off the track—though she doesn't appear visually, her energy sets the tone. The collaboration also features DESI TRILL’s Natania and Subhi, infusing the project with South Asian flair and multicultural resonance.

Blending iconic cartoon visuals with live-action choreography, the video creates an imaginative bridge between generations. Bright mushroom houses, candy-colored skies, and a dance party like no other—all of it seamlessly integrated thanks to FRENDER’s advanced VFX work.

FRENDER’s role in Higher Love was to make the impossible feel effortless. From the very start, our mission was clear: organically integrate material from the animated film into a dynamic, music-driven environment without disrupting the visual integrity of either world.

Filming took place at Robot Studios in Miami entirely against a blue screen, allowing FRENDER to craft the backgrounds from scratch—drawing on the vibe and visual language of the Smurfs universe to create immersive environments with authenticity and flair.

Using original characters from the movie, we seamlessly composited them into the music video, making sure their interaction with the live-action elements felt natural and energetic. One of the most visually striking moments involved the creation of full-CGI balloons, used to produce an optical illusion scene where it appears as if the character is flying on them—an effect achieved through meticulous planning and cutting-edge compositing.

From vibrant forest scenes to surreal party sequences, every frame was a meticulous blend of technical precision and creative storytelling. Through carefully designed lighting, shadows, and motion tracking, our VFX artists brought charm, rhythm, and movement to every blue figure on screen.

Why It Matters: VFX as Performance Amplifier

At FRENDER, we don’t just add effects. We help shape the audience’s experience. In a live setting like Coachella, where every moment is amplified to global scale, visuals must carry emotion, energy, and clarity.

Our goal was simple: elevate the performance without ever distracting from it. To create a layer of storytelling that is felt — even if not consciously seen.

Megan Thee Stallion’s Coachella set was bold, powerful, and unforgettable. We’re proud to have been part of a show that raised the bar not only for live music performances but for the role of VFX in storytelling on a global stage.

At Frender, we don’t chase spectacle for its own sake. We build visuals that matter — crafted to support the moment and stand the test of time.