necessary appendages with computer graphics. American Gods' visual effects studio, BUF, augmented the photography to provide the flame and obsidian texture.
It was a feat they ended up having to do twice. To help make that happen, Abtahi and Kraish wore shiny black makeup while performing their sexual choreography on a blue screen. 'Creator Bryan Fuller very clearly described what he wanted,' recounts the show's visual effects designer Kevin Tod Haug, 'which was two obsidian people with flames inside of one guy that he ejaculates into the other one.' The scene was dubbed 'Obsidian Lovers' and involved the two men taking on a very distinctive look and feel while they had sex. Featuring full nudity as well as some god-like imagery, it's certainly an explicit sequence, and one that required various levels of digital intervention. The episode's psychedelic sex scene takes place between Salim (Omid Abtahi) and a spiritual messenger in the guise of a taxi driver (Mousa Kraish).
