Cinesite creates the VFX for key sequences in the movie, including the Queen Witch’s resurrection, an epic battle scene and CG magical effects.
In this supernatural world of witchery, one of the witches, Schlesinger (Isaach De Bankolé) finds himself entrapped in a cocoon. “Our team of artists had the challenging task of enhancing the live-action set piece and prosthetics with a CG cocoon. This included adding membranes, fibers, moving branches and insects to make the cocoon come alive, keeping it embedded into the actor’s face while taking care not to alter his performance,” says Voss.
The team created a procedural “root system,” which could grow and encase the character and surrounding tree. The movements of the roots were then accentuated in certain shots with hero key frame animated roots and the addition of more fibers.
The Queen Witch’s fly swarm used to attack Kaulder had multiple objectives, Paris explains: “The challenge was to capture the energy and dynamic speed of the swarm (of up to 1.5 million flies), while giving shape to the swarm to allow the audience to follow the direction of the flies. Various motion studies and versions were created, all exploring how a swarm might behave. Ultimately, working with [director] Breck Eisner and [the film’s overall VFX supervisor] Nicholas Brooks, we settled on a more calligraphic look, to show that the swarm was under the Witch Queen’s supernatural control.”
In addition, Cinesite developed the look of the immortality transfer that can be seen in a number of key moments in the film, as well as the Queen Witch tree which appears in the film as both “live” and “dead,” book-ending the Schlesinger storyline.
With teams in London and Montréal, Cinesite is currently creating visual effects for several films, including The Revenant, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Gods of Egypt and Now You See Me: The Second Act. Cinesite recently completed visual effects for the forthcoming MGM production Spectre.
Source: Cinesite VFX Ltd.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
